Brotherhood Exile
by Disembob
Summary: A Brotherhood of Steel Paladin is exiled for disagreeing with the methods of the Elder. He joins a simple courier who is on a quest for vengeance.
1. Chapter 1 - Doubts and Meetings

"You know, this isn't really what I signed up for." A man in power armour said as he was forced to wrench a plasma rifle from some random wastelander who somehow managed to get his hands on it.

"How did you sign up Eric? Here in Nevada, you're born into it. We haven't accepted new recruits in a long ass time." Another man in power armour asked as he pointed his gauss rifle to the wastelander, in case he tried anything stupid.

"Well, Harry, maybe because I'm not from here. I was ordered to come here from the East." Eric said with a sigh. "Hey bud, I know you got some microfusion cells with this, so hand them over and this won't with you bleeding out, or worse, in this harsh, unforgiving wasteland that we all call home." Eric added.

"I gathered that, you smart ass, how did you sign up with them?" Harry asked with just a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"Well, I asked nicely." Eric said. "They had low numbers after a particularly gruelling battle, some might call it a minor war, and along with that, they saved my life. I would probably have been killed by some Super Mutants, had they not turned up." Eric said with a shrug.

"What Vault did you come from anyway, and I really want to know how you nearly got killed by Muties." Harry asked as he kicked the wastelander to the ground.

"101. A guy I kinda knew managed to break out a while back, along with his father." Eric said, reminiscing. "He came back a couple of months later. He managed to overthrow our old Overseer, who was getting a bit tyrannical. He managed to convince our new Overseer to open our doors to the outside world. Some people, including me, left and never looked back. I then came across a group of Super Mutants, they had guns, but I assume they thought I wasn't worth wasting a bullet on so they decided to bludgeon me to death, until a group of Knights came along. The Mutants got slaughtered and the Knights decided to help me, for whatever reason. They took me to their base and I asked if they were taking recruits. They were, so I joined. Just because they helped me." Eric said.

"Well shit Eric, you've been through a lot." Harry said, not really knowing how to respond at that point. They started to walk back to their bunker in the Hidden Valley, making small talk along the way.

"Hey, assholes! Hold up!" A voice yelled from behind them. They both turned and saw at least 5 fiends, as well as the one who tried to stop them..

"See, I get that they're high as shit, but what chance do they think they have against us?" Eric asked.

"Honestly? No idea, maybe I'm a psychopath, but I do love it when this happens." Harry said as he aimed his gauss rifle.

"No, no, I get it. We're meant to keep the wasteland safe from itself, and what better way to do it than to kill some idiot fiends?" Eric said, hoisting his plasma caster. Eric concentrated as he aimed at three of the fiends. He pulled the trigger at the first fiend who melted on the first shot, before anyone could react, Eric fired at the second fiend who collapsed on the third shot. "Damn Buffout addicts." Eric muttered as he shot at the final fiend who melted into a puddle of goo.

"God-damn you and your Vault technology!" Eric yelled jokingly as he fired upon the other fiends, who were blown away by the power of his gauss rifle.

"Check what they were holding, one of them might have an energy weapon, you know what fiends are like." Eric said with a sigh. They continued their trek to the bunker in relative peace and quiet.

"What is the password?" A voice said from over an intercom.

"Come on, Ramos... You know damn well it's us. Open the door." Harry said with a sigh.

"It's a safety measure. you know that Palmer." Ramos said.

"Who is going to find us? We are, if I do say so myself, extremely well hidden, not only that, we have the cover of a sandstorm most of the time. Tell me, who has managed to find this valley, let alone this bunker?" Harry said, slight anger in his voice.

"Well, someone managed to get in a couple of hours after you left, somehow managing to get the password. I don't believe his story, but he said he got it from one of our lost patrols. He's with Elder McNamara now." Ramos said, calmly. A couple of seconds later, the door unlocked.

"What did you boys bring in this time?" Ramos asked as Eric and Harry approached his office.

"Well, we got a plasma rifle and some cells from a wastelander, it was in pretty good condition. I assume he got it from Freeside, from what I've heard, there's a really well stocked store there, and we got a recharger rifle and a plasma defender from some fiends, as you can expect from fiends, they were in poor condition." Harry said as he took his helmet off.

"Alright, take them down to Torres. I'm sure she'll put them to use." Ramos said.

"I'll take them down, see you later, Eric." Harry said as he took the looted weapons from Eric. Eric took his helmet off and ran his hands through his brown slicked back hair.

"Hey, Ramos? Do you know anything about whoever it was that managed to get in?" Eric asked, stepping into Ramos' office again.

"Not really, he did have a pretty messed up looking scar on his head and he did come with me to the Elder with no problems. Why?" Ramos said, checking a clipboard.

"No reason. Just wondering, is all." Eric said.

"I did remember something, he had a Pip Boy on, like yours. Other than that, though, nothing special." Ramos said, as Eric was leaving. Eric walked further into the bunker, to get to his barracks. Upon getting to his barracks, he decided to just wear his recon armour. He decided to get some sleep in, he hadn't slept for a long time.

Upon waking, Eric stood up and stretched, upon leaving the barracks, he came across a man.

"Where did you get that scar, man?" Eric said as he approached the man.

"Someone shot me in the head. I somehow survived." Eric looked down at the man's wrist and noticed a Pip Boy.

"What Vault did you come from?" He asked, pointing at the Pip Boy.

"You know, I think you're one of the only people to actually ask me that. But I'm not from any Vault. I just got it from some guy who patched me up after I got shot." The man said. "I notice you have a Pip Boy. What Vault are you from?" The man asked.

"101, it's in DC." Eric answered. "I heard that you were talking with the Elder. Did he ask you to do anything?" Eric asked.

"Just to deal with an NCR ranger. I got a bomb collar put on me, I would have done it anyway, no need to be rude about it. Anyway, maybe I'll see you later." The man said.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name?" Eric asked.

"Just call me Courier". The man said as he walked away.

 **Author's note: I started this, hopefully I'll be able to update it consistently. I'll probably update it weekly on Sundays. Anyway, leave your thoughts.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Exile and Companionship

Eric stood confused as he tried to take in what the Courier told him. He understood that the Brotherhood in the West Coast operated a bit differently, but not to the extent of forcing an already willing person to do their dirty work under threat of death."I'm going to see the Elder about this." He muttered. Eric made his way down to the Elder's chambers, where he was stopped by two knights.

"Hadley, what can I do for you?" The Elder said as he noticed Eric being stopped by the knights. "Let him through." He commanded.

"Sir, I realise that I'm not originally from here, but surely strapping a bomb collar to someone who was perfectly willing to help, had you just asked, is a bit over the top, especially for dealing with something as petty as an NCR ranger?" Eric asked. The Elder frowned.

"What if he were to tell somebody where we are? We could be destroyed." The Elder said.

"We're going to be destroyed anyway, we don't accept any new initiates, why do you think I came here in the first place? It wasn't because the Brotherhood in DC got wiped out, it was because word had somehow gotten to our Elder that you didn't have that many people here. I volunteered to come over, along with a few others, and you accepted us with open arms, just because we were already in the Brotherhood in the first place." Eric said. The Elder looked angered at this sudden outburst.

"If you don't like the way we do things, you're free to leave." The Elder said, his voice remarkably calm.

"There is a war going on outside that could destroy us. we need all the help we can get. Our only real chance of survival is to open our doors, take new initiates." Eric said, pleading. The Elder sat, thinking for a while.

"You're in no position to make demands here, We've been safe here for years, and no-one has found us except for that courier. As I said before, if you don't like how we do things here, you're free to leave, but just know this, you will be unable to return once you have left." The Elder said. Eric shook his head and sighed.

"Fine, fuck this. I'm out." He said as he walked out, passing by the Courier as he left.

"Hey, wait, what was all that about?" The Courier asked.

"We're really damn close to being wiped out. I can't stand to see this kind of thing happen, so I left, but I guess so he could feel all powerful, he essentially exiled me. I have no idea what I'm going to do now. Going back to DC would take far too long." Eric said as he sighed. "I got some caps saved up, maybe I'll go to Novac or something and see if they'll let me stay." He said as he took off his recon helmet.

"How about you come with me? I'm sure I'd feel better about having a Brotherhood Paladin along with me." The Courier asked.

"I dunno man. You just met me and you're willing to let me join you on some journey?" Eric asked, somewhat stunned.

"Yeah." The Courier said, straight faced without a moments though. Eric stood in silence, contemplating.

"Yeah, alright. I'll come with you. Give me some time to get my stuff and I'll join you on the way out." Eric said.

"Doesn't that stuff belong to the Brotherhood, will they really be alright with you taking it?" The Courier asked.

"Yeah, but not THIS Brotherhood, and I'll be fucked if McNamara thinks he's going to take my plasma caster. I feel like I should come up with a name for her, I've had her since I was just a lowly initiate." Eric explained.

"Alright, then. But before you go, I should ask, what's your name? All I heard from in there was Hadley, but what's your full name?" The Courier asked.

"It's Eric Hadley." Eric said as he walked to his barracks to collect his things.

"What the hell happened down there, man?" Harry asked as he saw Eric collecting his things.

"I quit." Eric stated, matter-of-factly.

"Why? What exactly happened when you were with McNamara?" Harry asked, stunned.

"I simply said that I didn't agree with his methods and that strapping a bomb collar to someone just to force them to do your bidding is over the top." Also, I said that if we don't start accepting new recruits, then we're going to get wiped out." Eric explained.

"Well, are you going back to DC then?" Harry asked as Eric started to leave.

"No. I'm going with that outsider." Eric said.

"That doesn't sound like a good idea." Harry said as they both stood at the entrance of the bunker. "I do think you're right about us getting wiped out, though. I hope you do well out there, man. Hopefully I'll see you when I'm patrolling. Goodbye." Harry said as Eric opened the bunker door.

"Goodbye, Harry." Eric said as he walked out. He noticed the Courier pacing around outside.

"Oh, so you finally turn up!" The Courier said, sarcastically. "Do you know how long I've been waiting out here?"

"A couple of hours? Also, why didn't you just wait inside? I'm sure no-one would have minded." Eric said.

"Yeah, and I didn't think of that. I figured I would have gotten chased out by Ramos." The Courier said as he checked his Pip Boy. "Oh yeah, we're going to Vegas. I need to find the guy who shot me, and who stole something I had to deliver, and from what I've gathered, I can find him in Vegas." The Courier said.

"Nice, I've always wanted to go there. Will you need me to help you deal with this guy? Because I just want to gamble." Eric asked.

"Probably not, but I'd still like you to be with me, just in case anything goes down. You can gamble after we're done." The Courier said as he walked off. Eric nodded as he followed him.

"Where exactly in Vegas are we going, Courier?" Eric asked as they left the scorpion ridden gulch just outside of Hidden Valley.

"The Tops casino. The guy I'm looking for is one of the main guys there, from what I've heard." The Courier said. "Let's talk about something, what other weapons are you skilled with, other than your plasma caster?" The Courier asked.

"Well, I'm good with a knife, or any sort of bladed weapon, I'm good with a super sledge or something, but I dunno, there's something that feels right about stabbing someone, rather than bashing their heads in." Eric said.

The Courier nodded as he checked his Pip Boy, "Should we rest in Novac or just stay for supplies?" The Courier asked.

"Supplies. We're not that long out of Hidden Valley, are we? Besides, I've only been up, maybe 4 hours or something." Eric said, confused.

"Speak for yourself, I've been up for a hell of a lot longer than that. I'm honestly surprised I haven't just collapsed yet." The Courier said.

"Alright fine, you can rest in Novac, I'll look around to see the town." Eric said. The Courier went straight into the Dino Dee-lite hotel upon getting into Novac. Eric went up the stairs into the dinosaur to see what was inside. Upon entering, he saw a desk with no-one standing there. He went upstairs to go look out of the dinosaur's mouth, to try and scout the area.

"Goddamn it! Don't sneak up on me like that. What do you want?" A man wielding a scoped rifle said as he noticed Eric coming through the door.

"I just wanted to get a good vantage point of outside." Eric said. The man sighed.

"I'll admit, the armour may be a bit much, but I think you can help me with something." The man asked.

"Tell me what it is and I'll consider it." Eric said.

"Well, I need you to find something out for me. I don't know if there's anything to find, but I need someone to try." The man said. "My wife was taken from our home by Legion slavers one night while I was on watch. They knew when to come and what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don't know who." The man said.

"So, you need help tracking your wife down?" Eric asked.

"My wife's dead. I want the son of a bitch who sold her." The man said.

"I'm going to need some time to think about this. I'll come back tomorrow. What's your name, by the way?" Eric asked.

"Craig Boone, but you can just call me Boone. Everyone does." Boone said.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Boone." Eric said as he walked out.


	3. Chapter 3 - Revenge and Allies

Eric left the interior of the dinosaur to see the Courier leaning against the dinosaur tail. "What room are we in?" Eric asked as he descended the staircase.

"The first one on the left upstairs." The Courier said as he took the key from his pocket. They went up the stairs and the Courier unlocked the door to their room.

"I found a guy up in the mouth of the dinosaur. He said he needs some help with something. I think we should check it out tomorrow." Eric said as he took his power armour off. "He wants us to track down the person who sold his wife to the Legion." Eric explained.

"I'll go up in the morning." The Courier said.

"Actually, I think this guy only works during the night." Eric said. The Courier stood up.

"I'll go up now then, you want to come with me?" He asked. Eric stood up as well.

"Sure." They both left the room.

"So, what's this guy's name?" The Courier asked as they entered the dinosaur.

"Boone." Eric said. They both opened the door to the sniper nest of the dinosaur.

"Hey, Boone, my companion here said you're wanting to hunt the person who killed your wife?" The Courier said as he approached Boone.

"Yeah, if you're up to it." Boone said, turning to face the Courier.

"What do you want me to do?" The Courier asked.

"I'm sure he's filled you in, but here's the gist of it." Boone said glancing at Eric. "Some Legion slavers got into my home and took my wife. I've got a feeling someone told them exactly where to go and when to do it." Boone said.

"Alright, but what do I do when I find this person?" The Courier asked.

"Bring him out in front of the nest here while I'm on duty. I work nights." Boone said. He took his beret off and handed it to the Courier. "I'll give you my NCR beret to put on. It'll be our signal, so I know you're standing with him. And I'll take care of the rest. I need to do this myself." He said.

"I'll see what I can do to help you out." The Courier said.

"Thanks, but it's probably best that we don't talk to each other until this is over. Boone said as he turned away from the Courier. "I assume you already know this, but I feel like I should mention, the Brotherhood of Steel and the NCR aren't exactly on the best of terms right now, so you should probably ditch that armour if you're planning on going into NCR territory." Boone said to Eric.

"Alright, thanks for the info, Boone." Eric said as the Courier left the dinosaur. Eric walked down and saw the Courier check his Pip Boy.

"I got some information from the owner of the motel and she seems to think Boone's wife ran off on her own. I know I'm jumping to conclusions here, but I think that sounds a bit suspicious." The Courier said, looking up at Eric as he came down the stairs.

"You're right. But I think we should sleep on it first, and talk to the people around the town." Eric said as the ascended the stairs to the motel room.

Eric awoke to find the Courier sitting in a chair reading a book. "Oh, glad you're up. Let's get going." The Courier said.

"Who are we going to talk to first?" Eric asked as he stretched.

"Probably Manny, the other sniper. Though, I'm going to look inside the motel's front desk. I'm sure I saw something in there." The Courier said.

"I'll check the front desk, you can talk with the other sniper. How exactly do you know his name?" Eric asked.

"Oh, I talked with him before I came to your bunker. He told me where to find Benny, the guy who shot me in the head." The Courier explained.

"Alright then. Makes sense. Let's meet back here when we're done." Eric said. The Courier nodded as they left the motel room.

"I hope you're finding everything to your liking." The woman at the front desk said as Eric walked in.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say, we haven't met yet, my name is Eric Hadley, I'm a former Brotherhood of Steel Knight. At least, with the Mojave chapter." Eric said, leaning on the desk.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jeannie May. I run this motel." Jeannie May said. "I hope you don't mind, but I just remembered that I left something important in my house. I need to go and get it." Jeannie May said.

"Oh no, that's quite alright." Eric said. Jeannie May ran out of the motel and Eric peered over the desk and saw a safe in the floor, hidden by some papers.

"Alright, let's see what's in here." Eric said as he walked around and brandished a lockpick. He started to pick the lock and eventually, it clicked open. He opened the safe and saw a holotape. He copied the information to his Pip Boy, closed the safe and put the pieces of paper back over the safe. He left the front desk and went up to the motel room. He went inside and read the contents of the holotape, it was a bill of sale for the capture of Boone's wife and unborn child. Eric stopped reading and waited for the Courier to come back.

"Manny isn't suspicious. Granted, he did have some harsh words towards Boone's wife. Anyway, what did you find?" The Courier asked.

"Jeannie May did it." Eric said.

"How can you be sure?" The Courier asked.

"I found a holotape. It's a bill of sale stating that she got paid 1,500 caps for the sale of Boone's wife and unborn child." Eric said. The Courier looked shocked.

"Right, we'll lead her out there tonight." The Courier said. They waited a few hours until they saw Boone go up into the dinosaur and Manny leave. They stood up and went down to the front desk. They entered and noticed that she wasn't in there. "Hmm, do you know where she lives?" The Courier asked.

"Not really. She should be close to here. I did see a shack right behind the font desk when we came in. Let's check it out." Eric said. They left the front desk and went to the shack behind the building. The Courier knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened.

"Is everything alright? Awful late to be dropping in unexpected." Jeannie May said.

"There's something you should see in front of the dinosaur." The Courier said.

"Okay, if that's what you think." Jeannie May walked out to the front of the dinosaur. The Courier put Boone's beret on. Jeannie May's head exploded almost instantly as Boone shot her.

"Well, that's that then. Let's go up and talk to him." The Courier said, taking the beret off. They both went up into the dinosaur.

"That's it, then? How did you know?" Boone asked as they entered the dinosaur head.

"She kept the bill of sale." Eric said as the Courier handed Boone his beret.

"That's just like them, to keep the paperwork." Boone said. "Here, this is all I can give you." Boone said handing the Courier some bottlecaps. "I think our dealings are done here."

"What'll you do after this? You just murdered someone. I get you had good reason for it, but still." The Courier asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. All I know is I'm not staying." Boone responded.

"Why don't you come with us?" Eric asked.

"I don't know, that doesn't seem like such a good idea.

"We're going to be fighting some Legionaries. They send hit squad after me fairly often." The Courier said.

"Heh, you convinced me. Let's go." Boone said as he put his rifle on his back.


	4. Chapter 4 - Warnings and Contracts

"You seem different from the Brotherhood in Vegas." Boone said to Eric as they were walking along the road.

"I'm not from here. I'm from DC. And I got exiled from this Brotherhood, so I'm joining the Courier on his quest for revenge." Eric said.

"Your name is the Courier?" Boone asked the Courier.

"Not really, but no-one's used my name in ages. I decided to call myself Courier because that's what I am. And I was the sixth courier on this job I took right before I was shot in the head, so I'm calling myself 'Courier Six' which I think sounds good." The Courier said.

"It does." Boone said. "Oh yeah, I didn't get your name." Boone said, referring to Eric.

"It's Eric Hadley." Eric said. "And Courier, how exactly did you get the Legion to send hit squads after you?" Eric asked.

"Well, I was following the road out of Primm when some guy came running up to me. He started shouting about winning the lottery and I was a bit weirded out to say the least. I let him go on his way and just walked on into Nipton and saw a massacre. People were crucified and the whole town was in ruins. And as I went up to the town hall, some guy wearing a dog's head and some goggles showed up and told me to spread the word of what happened there. So, I decided to just kill him. There were a few legionaries so I killed them as well. I should probably go and tell someone of what happened there, though. I'm sure it could help in some way." The Courier explained.

"There's an NCR outpost close by there. I'm sure they'd want to know." Boone said. "Although, it would take us quite a bit out of our way." Boone said.

"That's fine with me. Let's just get going."

"Now let me ask something. How exactly do you think you can do better than my soldiers?" A man asked to a man who was standing opposite him, arms folded.

"Well, Caesar, how many of your soldiers have implants? I have enhanced optics, my reflexes have been boosted, among other things. In general, I believe that I am superior to your troops." The man said.

"You're a cyborg, eh?" Caesar asked. "I guess I could use someone like you." Caesar said. "Tell me, what's your name?" Caesar asked.

"It's Josh." Josh said. Caesar had a look of worry on his face. "Is something the matter, Caeser?" Josh asked.

"No, no. It's nothing." Caesar said, rubbing his eyes. "I want you to hunt down, and kill this courier who's been fucking with my plans. I assure you, you will be paid well." Caesar said.

"I'll not let you down Caesar." Josh said as he walked out of the tent.

"That didn't take as long as I figured it would." Eric said as the group reached the top of the hill leading to the outpost. "Boone, have you been here before?" Eric asked.

"No, why?" Boone responded.

"I wanted to know if there's anywhere I could get a drink." Eric said.

"From what I've heard from others there is, but I'll say it again, the Brotherhood of Steel and the NCR aren't on the best of terms right now." Boone said, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Yeah, I remember." Eric said.

"Well why are you still wearing that power armour?" Boone asked.

"I don't have anything else to wear, man." Eric said. "How about we get up there and see how people react to me then?" Eric challenged.

"OK, fine." Boone said. The trio walked up to the statue of two soldiers shaking hands and a man, presumably a NCR soldier.

"Did you come from the north?" The soldier asked. "You must be crazy to have braved those roads. Is there anything I can help you with?" The soldier asked.

"Yeah, what exactly is this place?" The Courier asked.

"Well, it's an NCR Outpost. I'm just watching a whole bunch of nothing." The man said with a sigh. "Caravans have stopped, either waiting for the roads north to clear up or waiting for their clearance papers to go through. You three look like you've walked a long ways. There's a bar in the barracks, if you want to rest for a while. Also, be a bit careful with that armour, some NCR folk don't like the Brotherhood of Steel." The soldier said.

"Oh, I'm not with the Brotherhood, at least, not any more." Eric explained.

"Still, try not to stir anything up." The soldier cautioned. Eric started to walk off.

"Hey, where are you going?" The Courier asked. Eric stopped and turned.

"To the bar, I could do with a drink, honestly." Eric said.

"Alright fine, Boone, go with him and make sure he doesn't start anything." The Courier said.

"Sir, yes sir." Boone responded dryly. "Let's go." He said to Eric.

"I meant to ask you before, but what's with that beret?" Eric asked.

"It's a First Recon beret. It was from the sniper unit I served in." Boone explained.

"Fair enough. Do you have any caps on you?" Eric asked.

"Yes, why?" Boone asked.

"Just wanted to make sure so you didn't borrow any off of me." Eric explained. They entered the barracks. Eric took his helmet off and sat down.

"It takes a lot of balls for a Brotherhood man like yourself to just walk into NCR territory." A woman asked.

"I guess so, but nobody's shot me yet, so I think I'm doing alright." Eric said turning to face her. "also, I'm npt a part of the Brotherhood any more.

"How did that happen?" The woman asked.

"I just left. The Elder was being rather unreasonable so I just up and left." Eric explained.

"And you took the weapons and armour?" The woman asked. "I don't think they'll take to kindly to that." She said, with a laugh.

"It's not even theirs, I brought it from DC, I'm taking it back to DC." Eric said.

"That makes sense, I guess." The woman responded. "I'm Rose of Sharon Cassidy, but I guess you could call me Cass." She said.

"Not going to lie, I've never heard a name like that before." Eric said. "I'm former Paladin Eric Hadley. Well, I guess I'm still a Paladin back home." Eric said. "Excuse me." Eric called out to the woman standing behind the bar.

"Yeah, what can I get for you?" The woman asked.

"Just a whiskey." Eric said, getting some caps out. "How much is it?" He asked.

"5 caps." the woman responded. Eric handed them over and started to drink.

"You hear about the war brewing between NCR and the Legion?" Cass asked.

"Kinda, but nothing specific. A friend of mine saw them in Nipton a while back."

"Wait, what?" Cass asked. "They're this far west? Holy shit." She said.

"Yeah, that's why we're up here. He's telling someone up here about it." Eric explained. "We're meant to be going to Vegas, to find the guy who shot him in the head." Eric said.

"Then what? There is a war going on." Cass asked.

"I don't know. All he's mentioned is getting his revenge." Eric said. The door suddenly opened and the Courier stepped in. Eric stood up and put his helmet back on. "We going?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I've picked up some supplies. We should be good for a couple of days." The Courier said.

"Are you the guy who got shot in the head?" Cass asked standing.

"Yeah, why?" The Courier asked, confused.

"Well, I've heard you're going to Vegas." She said.

"Yeah, I am." The Courier said glancing at Eric.

"Well, I need to go there. I've got some business to take care of. And I'd rather do it in person." Cass explained. The Courier was silent for a second then he sighed. "I'll pay you when we get there."

"Fine. Let's get going. Where's Boone?" The Courier asked.

"Here." Boone said as he stood up holding a bottle of whiskey. He put 5 caps on the counter and walked out.


	5. Chapter 5 - Hitmen and Deception

"What business do you have in Vegas, Cass? If you don't mind my asking." The Courier asked as the group walked down the road from the NCR Outpost.

"Just some things to do with my caravan. I've been told that someone at the Crimson Caravan Company wants to speak to me about it." Cass explained. "I've been told that you were shot in the head and you're going after the guy who did it." She said.

"Yeah. He's one of the casino bosses. He said the game was rigged from the start, but I have no idea what that means. I guess I'll find out when I find him." The Courier said.

"What're your plans for after that? You do know there's a war happening, right?" Cass asked.

"Yeah, the Legion are going to try and get control of Hoover Dam again, but presumably be more prepared." The Courier said.

"Wait, again? I thought this war was just getting started." Eric said, confused.

"No, it's been going on for a while, about 4 years, I think." The Courier explained.

"Alright then, but how did they fail the first time?" Eric asked.

"The NCR wasn't prepared for the Legion." Boone said, joining in the conversation. "It was the 1st Recon and the Rangers who started picking it up. We retreated to Boulder City and set explosives there. We started picking off some of the Legion and the Legate ordered his troops to advance on us and got out before they got there. They had no idea we had trapped the place and a lot of the bastards were killed. The Legate gave the order to retreat and that was that." He explained. Eric nodded, taking the information in.

"Excuse me." A man called out as he approached the group. "Can you please help me, I've been attacked and I don't think I'm going to make it." He said. The man was holding his hand under the duster he was wearing on a wound he sustained.

"Alright, I think I got something here that could help. Who are you anyway?" The Courier asked as he got out a stimpak,

"My name's Josh," Josh said as the Courier reached out to hand the stimpak to Josh when he grabbed him by the wrist.

"You shouldn't have crossed the Legion." He yelled as he pulled the Courier towards him as a human shield. He pulled a knife out from his duster. "One wrong move and I slit his throat." Josh said.

"Wow, they've gone from hit squads to hit men." The Courier said, with a sigh. Have I lost priority for them or something?" He asked. "And what does it matter if they make one wrong move, you're a hit man, you're going to kill me anyway."

"Shut up." Josh said.

"Did they not tell you that I've slaughtered entire hit squads? What makes you think you can succeed where they failed?" The Courier asked.

"Did any of those other hit squads have implants?" Josh asked.

"I don't know, maybe? I didn't ask." The Courier said. "You know what, I don't have time for this." The Courier said, headbutting Josh. The Courier drew his pistol and shot him in the knee. The man yelled in pain and fell to the ground. Boone drew his rifle and pointed it at him. "Leave it, Boone. He isn't worth it." The Courier said as he walked away. Boone reluctantly put his rifle away and kicked him as he left.

"You seemed disappointed that they only sent one guy after you." Eric said with a chuckle.

"Well, yeah, it makes me feel like I'm not important to them." The Courier said. "Anyway, we gotta keep going. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say maybe we don't stop in Novac." He said.

"No argument here." Boone said.

"Yeah, I doubt that'd end well." Eric said.

"What happened in Novac?" Cass asked.

"I killed someone there." Boone said.

"Why did you do that?" Cass asked.

"She sold my wife into slavery." Boone said.

"Oh shit, sorry for bringing it up." Cass said.

"It's fine." Boone said. "Where are we going to stop then?" He asked.

"There's a trading post close to Boulder City. We could stop there for a while, rest and get supplies." The Courier said.

"Alright, I'm fine with that." Boone said.

"Yeah, that's not too bad." Eric sad.

"It could be worse." Cass said with a shrug.

"OK then, let's get going." The Courier said.

"Goddamn it!" Josh yelled in frustration, sitting up. "Well, I can't go back to Caesar without proof that he's dead. He'd kill me." He said. "I'll just need to think of something else." He muttered to himself, as he slowly got to his feet. He limped off towards Primm. As he got into Primm, he noticed that no-one was outside. He went up to the Vikki and Vance Casino and knocked on the door. "Is anyone in there!" He yelled and waited for a response. The door opened slightly.

"What's the problem?" The man behind the door asked.

"I've been shot, and I need a place to rest, I'm willing to pay you." Josh explained.

"Alright, come on in." The man said as he opened the door fully.

"Thank you." Josh said as he entered.

"What happened exactly?" The man asked as he got a stimpak for Josh.

"Well, I was walking to the NCR Outpost just south of here, and a guy stopped me and tried robbing me. I tried defending myself, but all I've got is this knife and he shot me in the knee." Josh explained.

"Did he take anything from yo afterwards?" The man asked.

"No, he just after that." Josh said.

"That should be you for now, but maybe you should rest here and see how it is later." The man said.

"No, I couldn't do that, I'll just pay and leave." Josh said, standing up.

"There's no need for that, but if you're sure you'll be alright, you can go." The man said, leading Josh to the door.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Josh said as he left.

"Hey, are you guys doing alright on ammo?" The Courier asked as the group approached the trading post.

"I've got enough to survive." Eric said.

"Can't hurt getting some more." Boone said, getting out some caps.

"I should be alright, I guess time will tell." Cass said.

"`Fine then. Let's go, Boone." The Courier said, walking off.

"What do we do?" Eric asked.

"How about we go get a drink?" Cass asked, walking towards the trading post itself.

"Yeah, sure." Eric said following her. Eric removed his helmet as he sat down and placed it on the bar.

"What can I get for you?" The bartender asked.

"I'll take a whiskey." Eric said.

"Make that two." Cass added. Eric looked around the trading post and noticed a woman wearing robes and a hood on the overpass. The woman looked over at him and gestured for him to come over.

"I need to go see something," Eric said as he walked off, picking up his helmet.

"Are you from the Brotherhood of Steel?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be, it takes a good deal of training to wear this, you know." Eric replied pointing to his armour. "Although, I'm not from the Brotherhood anymore. I got exiled for disagreeing with the Elder." He said.

"If you're not with the Brotherhood anymore, then why do you still have the armour?" The woman asked.

"I didn't get it here, I brought it from DC, and I'm taking it back to DC." Eric answered.

"You came from DC, huh?" The woman asked.

"Yeah. Any specific reason you asked if I was from the Brotherhood?" Eric asked.

"Not really, it's just that I'm also from the Brotherhood." The woman replied.

"Shit, really? In fact, oh yeah, I think I've heard of you." Eric exclaimed.

"Really?" The woman asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I heard about someone who just left the bunker for some reason, that was kinda inconsistent." Eric explained.

"I'm not quite sure how to respond to that. Anyway, are you heading back to DC?" The woman asked.

"Maybe after I help someone get to Vegas. I guess I'll just see how it plays out." Eric said.

"I guess that's a good way of doing things. This is going to sound weird, but can I join you? It's getting boring sticking around here." The woman asked.

"Uh, I'll have to check with the Courier first." Eric said. "Also, what's your name? I can't just say 'some woman wants to come with us.' It doesn't sound right." He added.

"Wait, is his name actually the Courier, or do you just not know what it is?" She asked.

"His name is actually the Courier."

"Never met anyone who had their job as their name. Anyway, I'm Veronica Santangelo. What's your name?" Veronica asked.

"Eric Hadley." Eric replied.


	6. Chapter 6 - Memories and Buyouts

"So, you're telling me that this woman is from the Brotherhood of Steel, and that she wants to join us on our kind short journey to Vegas?" The Courier asked, with slight disbelief.

"My name's Veronica, by the way." Veronica chimed in.

"Yeah." Eric said, shrugging. "And who's to say that we won't go further than Vegas?" Eric reasoned.

"Eh, I guess. Fine then, but are you really just going to wear robes, or whatever those are into battle?" The Courier asked Veronica.

"Yeah. They're armoured." Veronica said.

"I'll believe that for now. Do you have anything to get or are you ready to just leave?" The Courier asked.

"No, I'm good to go, also, is your name really 'The Courier'?" Veronica asked.

"Yes. Well, no, no-one's actually called me by my real name in a long ass time, so I decided to just drop it and go by Courier." The Courier explained.

"That's as good a reason as any, I guess." Veronica said.

"Alright then, Eric, tell Cass we're going. I'll go get Boone." The Courier said. Eric and the Courier walked away.

"Cass, the Courier wants you to know that we're going." Eric said.

"Alright then." Cass said, taking one last swig of whiskey. She put some caps down and walked in the direction of the Courier, Eric followed. "Who's this?" Cass asked, pointing at Veronica.

"She's from the Brotherhood of Steel, she wants to join us on our journey to Vegas and maybe beyond." The Courier said. "Her name's Veronica."

"You don't seem like you bring much to this party." Cass said, folding her arms.

"Well, I can't give away everything from the start, can I? Just wait, I assure you I won't be a burden." Veronica said. "Besides, I'm from the Brotherhood of Steel, aren't I?" She added.

"Alright, fine. Let's get going." Cass said, with a sigh.

"OK, I think we can just gun it for Vegas at this point, if we don't stop." The Courier said, walking off in the direction of Vegas as the rest of the group followed.

"Do you think that guy will come after you again?" Eric asked the Courier.

"I can only hope." The Courier said.

"Who's this guy coming after you?" Veronica asked.

"Some Legion hit man. He acted as if he were some guy who got attacked. He tried using me as a human shield. I head butted him and shot him in the knee, then we just left him. Thinking about it, we probably should have killed him. He'll probably try harder to kill me. Oh well, live and learn." Eric said, with a shrug.

"What did you do to piss off the Legion?" Veronica asked.

"I slaughtered a town full of them." The Courier said.

"Yeah, that'd get them pissed off." Veronica said.

"I don't think I've ever asked, but how were things in DC?" The Courier asked.

"Pretty good, I guess, by the time I signed up the Brotherhood had just took the Enclave out, all that was left were an ungodly amount of Super Mutants. I got posted at a radio station for a while, which was pretty good, all I ever did during that time was just stand inside waiting to see if anyone came in, no-one ever did, though." Eric explained. "Then one day, Elder Lyons said to everyone that the Brotherhood here was having some trouble, how he knew that, I'll never know, maybe I'll ask when I get back, and he asked for some people to come over and check how things were, and see if they needed assistance, turns out they did and just accepted us there on the spot." Eric continued.

"Interesting. How were things in the Vault?" The Courier asked.

"Well everything was fine until I was 18, when one of the doctors left the Vault, his son followed shortly after. This split the vault somewhat. A side who wanted to open the vault, which is where I sided, and one who wanted to keep the Vault closed entirely." Eric explained. "Then at some point, the doctor's son came back, armed to the teeth, with a ghoul who didn't talk much. Anyway, he helped us get the Vault open and several people just left." Eric went on.

"That sounds pretty bad, but at least you got out of there." The Courier said.

"Yeah, I guess." Eric said, with a shrug. "How about you, where did you come from?" He asked.

"No idea." The Courier said.

"How do you not know where you came from?" Eric asked. "Did that bullet give you amnesia?" He asked.

"No, I've just been to so many places it just kinda merges together. I don't really care for my past that much." The Courier said. "Anyway, we're nearly at Vegas, so we should just concentrate entirely on the journey ahead." The Courier said.

"The Gun Runners are set up just outside of Freeside, they've got some good quality weapons. Maybe we should check it out?" Boone suggested.

"Also, Crimson Caravan is just outside of Freeside."

"Alright, we'll go to the Gun Runners then the Crimson Caravan. Someone I know owes me money there." The Courier said. The group approached the Gun Runners kiosk.

"Welcome sir or madam. Do you wish to purchase anything?" The protectron in the kiosk asked.

"Yeah." The Courier said, getting some caps out. "Do you guys need anything?" The Courier asked.

"Just some ammo." Boone said.

"Alright then." The Courier said.

"This thing's been feeling a bit less powerful." Veronica said, holding up her power fist. "They got anything that can help with that?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah, I see some things." The Courier replied.

"I should be fine." Cass replied.

"Unless they've got something more powerful than my plasma caster, I don't think so." Eric said.

The Courier paid for the items and handed the ammo to Boone.

"I got some weapon mods for the power fist. They should make it more powerful." The Courier said, handing them to Veronica. She started to attach them to the power fist. "Alright, onto the Crimson Caravan then." He said. "What do you think this person wants you for?" He asked.

"I don't know. I'm thinking it's just to buy my company out, but I'm not doing that." Cass replied.

"Well, why even show up?" The Courier asked.

"I don't know, I just feel like I should deal with this in person. Cass replied.

"Fair enough. I'm going in there myself, I could join you for it, if you want." The Courier suggested.

"You could always use a guy in power armour." Eric said, cutting into the conversation.

"Sure, if you want." Cass said. The group opened the gate to the Crimson Caravan Company and walked inside. As they entered, a man walked up and handed the Courier some caps.

"Hey there, here's the rest of that payment from Goodsprings." The man said.

"You know I completely forgot about that, Ringo?" The Courier asked. "You could've just walked past and I wouldn't have cared." The Courier said, with a chuckle.

"It wouldn't have felt right, considering what you did for me." Ringo said.

"Heh, your loss then, buddy." The Courier said. "What are you going to do now?" He asked.

"I'm going up to Utah. There's a town called New Canaan which is supposedly prosperous." Ringo replied.

"Well, good luck I guess." The Courier said as he joined Cass.

"The main office is just up here. Let's go find out what she wants." Cass said.

"Alright then." The Courier said, opening the door.

"Cass, I see you got my message." The woman sitting behind the desk said as they entered.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Cass said.

"I wanted to buy out your company." The woman said.

"No deal, Alice." Cass said, shaking her head.

"But the company's dead, what's the point in holding onto it?" Alice asked. "If you think I'm not going to pay you well, then you're mistaken." Alice said.

"It's not about the money. I made it what it is, and I'm not willing to part with it." Cass said.

"I figured you would because you were the one who killed it." Alice replied.

"You take that back." Cass said angrily, approaching Alice. Eric and the Courier stepped forward, in case Cass tried attacking Alice.

"Tell your hired goons to back off." Alice said. Eric and the Courier looked at each other and stayed where they were. "I'm willing to pay you 2,000 caps." Alice said.

"You're willing to pay that much for nothing?" Cass asked. "Fuck, I'm going to regret this some day, but fine." Cass said. Alice chuckled and handed the caps to Cass.

"Nice doing business with you." Alice said with a smirk. Cass ignored her and left.

"What are you going to do now?" The Courier asked.

"I have no idea. Maybe head back West." Cass replied.

"Why not stick with me?" The Courier suggested.

"Sure, it's better than going back home with nothing." Cass said. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." She said as she handed the Courier some caps. "I said I'd pay you after this."

"Nah, forget it. That money's yours." The Courier said. Now let's get going. It's about time I see Benny again." He said.

"Is that the guy who shot you?" Eric asked.

"Yeah." The Courier replied.


	7. Chapter 7 - Passport and Confrontations

"So, are we getting passports or are we just going for the credit check?" Boone asked.

"How much is the credit check?" The Courier asked.

"2,000 caps." Boone said. "I've got that so I'm alright." He said.

"Alright, I got that covered." The Courier said, slightly relieved. "Wait, do the rest of you have it covered?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I've got it covered." Eric said, shaking a bag of caps in his hands.

"I just got 2,000 caps, so I'm good." Cass said.

"I've got about 1,000." Veronica said, with a sigh.

"Well shit. Now what?" The Courier asked.

"We could use a passport, but we'd need to find someone to buy one from." Boone explained. "Honestly, I'm sure we could find someone no problem." He said.

"Do you know where we could start?" Eric asked.

"Not really, there is a casino further in, we could check in there, see if anyone knows anything." Boone said.

"Alright, let's get going then." The Courier said as he started walking towards the gate to go further into Freeside.

"If it can be bought, it can be found at Mick and Ralph's!" A boy shouted.

"Maybe we can get one there?" Eric asked, with a slight uncertainty in his voice.

"It's worth a shot." The Courier said with a shrug. "Hey, kid, where is this Mick and Ralph's?" He asked.

"It's located just before the east gate." The boy replied.

"Thanks." The Courier said, as the group walked towards Mick and Ralph's. They entered the store and looked around. "I'm looking for something. The Courier said, as he approached the man behind the counter.

"What do you need?"The man asked. "If you need weapons, I'm afraid you'll need to talk to Mick." The man said.

"I take it you're Ralph, then?" The Courier asked. "I'm looking to get into The Strip and I've heard that you can help me." The Courier said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ralph said.

"Oh, come on." Eric said. "I'm sure a man as resourceful as you clearly are get something set up for us." He said.

"Alright, yeah, I can forge a passport. It'll cost you, though." Ralph said.

"A forgery?" The Courier asked, with a slight tone of anger in his voice. "You're going to charge us for this? What if someone at the gate realises it's a fake?" He asked.

"Trust me on this. I can promise you that no-one can distinguish between my work and the real thing." Ralph assured.

"How much are you asking for these?" The Courier asked, after a moment of thinking.

"500 caps." Ralph said.

"Are you shitting me? There is no way making one of those would cost 500. How about half?" The Courier asked.

"Well, I like your style, but I gotta make some profit. I'll meet you halfway, 375." Ralph said with a grin.

"That's just fine." The Courier said giving Ralph the caps. Ralph put the caps away and handed The Courier a pass.

"Nice doing business with you." Ralph said as the group left the store. The Courier handed the pass to Veronica and started walking back to the gate.

"What are you going to do when you get this guy?" Eric asked as they opened the gate.

"Probably just deliver the chip." The Courier said.

"Wait, really? That's it? You're just going to deliver it?" Eric asked, incredulously.

"Well, yeah, I do want to get paid." The Courier replied.

"What are you going to do if this guy's sold it or something?" Cass asked.

"He won't have. I don't think he would've tried to kill me for it if it weren't important to him in some way." The Courier explained. The group approached the gate to the New Vegas Strip and were stopped by a securitron.

"Submit to a credit check or present your passport before proceeding to the gate. Trespassers will be shot." The securiton said as it wheeled over to the group. The Courier, Cass, Boone and Eric showed the Securitron their caps and waited while Veronica showed her passport. "You may proceed!" The securitron said." The group proceed to walk onto the Strip and a securitron with a cowboy face on its screen approached.

"The boss is waiting for ya." The securitron said.

"No problem, Victor. I'll head up there." The Courier replied. The Lucky 38 opened up which drew the attention of most of the people hanging around outside. The people talked among themselves, wondering why the Lucky 38 had opened and who was going inside.

"I see you brought some friends." Victor said, referring to Boone, Cass, Veronica and Eric. "The boss has given you a room, for when you got here. They can't go up and see him, but they can stay in the room." Victor explained.

"Alright then." The Courier said, as the group entered the Lucky 38 casino.

"You guys want to wait down here?" The Courier said, looking around the casino floor of the Lucky 38. The group murmured in agreement as the Courier stepped into the elevator.

"This is kinda creepy." Eric said, as the group waited for the Courier to return.

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked.

"You can see this thing lit up for miles and then you see inside and it's completely empty except for some robots. It doesn't feel right." Eric explained.

"I see what you mean." Veronica said, looking around the room. The elevator opened and the Courier stepped out.

"What happened up there?" Eric asked as the Courier approached the group.

"I got told to go to the Tops and get the Platinum Chip from Benny. The exact thing I was going to do before we got told to come here. Seems a bit pointless." The Courier explained with a sigh. "Anyway, let's just go to the Tops." The Courier said. As they left the Lucky 38, an NCR soldier approached the Courier and handed him a note, which the Courier proceeded to read.

"What does it say?" Boone asked.

"I've to meet with an Ambassador Crocker and anything I've done wrong with the NCR has been forgiven." The Courier explained.

"So, you going there after you deliver this chip?" Eric asked.

"May as well. I've got nothing better to do." The Courier replied with a shrug. "The Tops is just past this gate. The sooner we get this over with, the better." He said, walking through the gate. As he walked into the Tops, he was stopped by a man behind a desk.

"Hey, I'm Swank, I own this place and I'm going to have to ask all of you to hand over your weapons." Swank said.

"Sure thing, we don't want to cause any trouble." The Courier said as he handed over his pistol. The rest of the group handed their weapons over, reluctantly. "I'm looking for Benny, he and I have something to take care of." He said.

"What is this business?" Swank asked.

"He tried to kill me and he stole something I was supposed to deliver to Mr House." The Courier explained.

"Why would he pull something like that?" Swank said to himself. "Do you have anything else?"

"I've got some cigarette butts from the grave he put me in, his lighter from when he killed his partners in Boulder City and this note I found in Novac." The Courier said, showing Swank the evidence.

"This is some serious shit. Go up to Benny's suite and see what you can find." Swank said, giving the Courier the key. "It's on the 13th floor, it's the one with double doors. You can't miss it. Also, I'll give you your weapons back, just in case." He said, handing the group their weapons back.

"We'll wait down here, make sure he doesn't try and leave." Eric said, as the group made their way to the elevators. About 20 minute later the Courier approached the group. "What did you find up there?" Eric asked.

"A securitron. Benny reprogrammed it, and was using it to try and take over New Vegas for himself. He called it Yes Man." The Courier explained. "I better bring this up with Swank." He said, shaking his head.

"What did you find, kid?" Swank asked.

"Benny's reprogrammed a securitron, he's trying to take over the Strip." The Courier explained.

"He's what? Oh shit, this is bad. What are you going to do now?" Swank asked.

"I'm going to talk to him, see what I can get out of him." The Courier said.

"Well, I gotta admit, that's ballsy kid. Good luck with that." Swank said as the Courier walked to confront Benny.


	8. Chapter 8 - Assassinations

"Should we come with you or should we hang back?" Boone asked the Courier as he glared at Benny.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter." The Courier replied, walking over to Benny. The group looked at each other and followed the Courier from a distance. "Hey, remember me?" The Courier yelled as he reached Benny, four men surrounding Benny drew their guns and pointed them at the Courier.

"Hey now, of course I remember you, how could I not? I see you recovered from your injury." Benny said, taking a step away from the Courier. The Courier sighed.

"Hand over the chip, House wants it." The Courier said, taking a step closer to Benny before being stopped by his bodyguards.

"How about you hear what I've got to say?" Benny said

"First of all, tell your goons here to back off, second, what makes you think I want to hear what you have to say?" The Courier asked.

"I understand you not being trusting, how about this, I'll comp you the presidential suite, you go up there, I'll come up in a couple of minutes, it'd look suspicious otherwise." Benny suggested, handing the Courier the keys.

"That's nice and all, but, I do need someone to pay off my contract." The Courier said.

"Well of course, where are my manners, here's some up front, you'll get more later." Benny said, handing the Courier some caps. "Now, go wait in the presidential suite, and I'll be up in a few." Benny said, pointing to the elevator.

"That's nice of you, but you didn't quite blow my brains out back in Goodsprings, drop the bodyguards and follow me there." The Courier said. Benny muttered under his breath.

"Well, if that's what it takes to win your trust, then let's go." Benny said, waving off his bodyguards. The Courier waved the group over and followed Benny to the elevator. As the elevator arrived at the suite, Benny sat at the bar, The Courier stood next to him and the others all spread out throughout the room.

"Hand over the chip. It belongs to me." The Courier demanded.

"How about you hold up, it belongs to someone who can use it to its full potential. That is, me, not you." Benny said.

"Tell me what it does." The Courier said. "I want to know why this was worth trying to kill me over." He said.

"Heh, to put it simply, it's something that can stack the odds in his favour. Or at least it was, until I took it." He explained. The Courier sighed.

"That's not really explaining what it does. Tell me more." The Courier demanded.

"Okay, okay, it has something to do with the securitrons, upgrading them in some way. Could be useful for when the NCR or Legion decide to come knocking." Benny explained.

"That's more like it. Now what are you planning on doing with it?" The Courier asked.

"I can let you in on this, help me with some things, and pretty soon we can rule Vegas, with the firepower to back it up." Benny explained.

"Really now, you're willing to kill someone as meaningless as a courier to make this plan work?" The Courier asked, scoffing.

"If you really think that the NCR, the Legion or even House won't kill anyone to get Vegas in their pocket, then maybe I did blow your brains out." Benny explained.

"Alright, I see your point.

"So how about it, do we have a deal?" Benny asked, turning to face the Courier.

"No, but thanks for the offer." The Courier said. Benny stood up.

"Well, the offer is still on the table in case you change your mind." Benny said, as he moved towards the elevator. The Courier drew his pistol.

"I don't recall saying you could leave." The Courier said. Benny turned to face him. and sighed.

"I should've seen this coming." Benny said, drawing his pistol. The Courier shot Benny twice in the chest, he fell to his knees. The Courier walked up to him and shot him in the head. The Courier rifled through Benny's chequered suit to find the Platinum Chip. The Courier picked up Benny's pistol.

"Are you going to keep that?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah. It'd feel weird just leaving it." The Courier replied." The group walked into the elevator and went down to the casino floor. When they reached the casino floor, they approached Swank.

"Hey kid, what happened?" Swank asked. The Courier looked down. "Is he dead?" Swank asked as the Courier showed Swank Benny's pistol. "I'll need some time, but I should be able to handle this. You did what you had to do kid, I don't blame you." Swank said, as he walked away. As the group left the Tops, a man in a suit and tie stopped the Courier. He said something to him and put something in his hand. The courier drew his pistol and shot him in the back of the head. The man fell, dead.

"Whoa! What the fuck was that?" Eric asked, stunned at the Courier's sudden outburst.

"He's working for the Legion. He said Caesar wanted to meet with me and that my crimes were forgiven." The Courier explained.

"Are you sure he was one of them?" Eric asked. "He could've just been some guy who was threatened into delivering that to you." He said.

"No, no, he was definitely Legion. He said he was a frumentarii. Either way, I don't think they'll be too happy to see us after that." The Courier said.

"No shit." Cass said, glancing at the man's corpse.

"I've got one last meeting with House, ten we need to come back here." The Courier said, stepping over the man's corpse.

"How do you know it's the last meeting?" Eric asked. "For all you know, he could tell you to do more stuff for you." He said.

"Trust me on this one, he won't." The Courier said, opening the gate towards the Lucky 38. "Again, you guys have to wait down here." The Courier said, as they entered the Lucky 38.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Eric asked as the Courier approached Victor.

"I'm just going to tell him that I got the chip and collect my money." The Courier said. "Victor, take me to Mr House." He said to Victor.

"Right away." Victor said as the elevator doors opened. The Courier nodded to the group as the elevator doors closed.

"I got your chip. Now give me my caps." The Courier said, as he stood in front of a giant computer screen with the image of Mr House on it.

"Alright fine." Mr House said. A few seconds passed and a securitron handed the Courier some caps. "!,000 caps, as we agreed."

"Thank you." The Courier said, putting the caps away. I'm not giving you this chip, by the way." He said, drawing a shotgun.

"What?" Mr House asked. "I spent two centuries searching for the Platinum Chip." He said, seething. "Now be a good courier and deliver it!" He demanded.

"I don't think so. I'm not afraid of you." The Courier said.

"It isn't me you should be afraid of. It's the securitrons that will be killing you." Mr House said, his image disappearing from the screen, a large group of securitrons moved in on the Courier. He ran off to the side, towards a terminal on the wall. The Courier threw out a pulse grenade, to buy himself some time, and started to hack the terminal. "Maybe I should've thought this out more." He muttered as he guessed passwords to the terminal. Eventually he got in and activated a option to override the security. The wall next to the terminal started to move, revealing another terminal. The Courier activated it and unlocked the elevator to the control room, he went in and the elevator descended.

"Should we go up?" Eric asked.

"No, I think he's got this." Boone said. "What do you think he's trying to do?" He asked.

"Honestly I have no idea. Maybe it's something to do with what Benny was trying to do with Yes Man." Veronica said.

"You mean to tell me that he's going to try and take over Vegas for himself?" Eric asked. "Wouldn't that mean disabling House in some way?" He asked. "Shit, we probably should go up there." He said.

"No, if he died there, they would send down securitrons after us. Let's give him some more time. Then we'll go up." Boone said.

"Goddamn it, fine." Eric said, with a sigh.

The Courier noticed a terminal in the room and went over to activate it. He noticed several options to do with the chamber in front of him. He chose the option to unseal the chamber. A notice popped up warning of a microbial infection risk if the chamber was unsealed. The Courier opened it anyway. The Courier turned as the chamber started to move, it lifted itself to face the Courier and opened, revealing the preserved body of MR House.

"Why have you done this?" Mr House asked, wheezing.

"Yes Man needs you out of the way." The Courier said, raising his shotgun.

"Your... vanity project... doomed to fail..." Mr House wheezed as The Courier shot Mr House, who died instantly. The Courier raised his Pip Boy and noticed a note had been added.

"A tragedy has befallen mankind?" The Courier asked himself as he got back in the elevator to the penthouse. When the elevator reached the penthouse, the Courier ducked for cover behind a wall, as the securitrons started to unload on him. He threw another pulse grenade and ran for the upstairs elevator to the casino floor. He breathed a sigh of relief as the doors to the elevator closed and the elevator started to descend.

The elevator doors opened, and the Courier stepped out. "You killed Mr House didn't you?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" The Courier asked. Eric held up his Pip Boy.

"It came up on my Pip Boy, somehow." Eric said.

"Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Let's go find Yes Man." The Courier said, walking towards the exit of the Lucky 38.


	9. Chapter 9 - Upgrades

"So you're taking over Vegas for yourself?" Eric asked the Courier as the group approached the outside of the Tops.

"Yeah. Yes Man raised some good points." The Courier said. "All I need to do is get him into the Lucky 38, and he should be able to take over." The Courier said.

"I gotta ask you something, man." Eric said.

"Sure, what is it?" The Courier asked.

"In private." Eric said, walking away from the others. The Courier followed him.

"What is it, Eric?" The Courier asked.

"I'm not sure if you've seen this or not, but I've seen a radio signal a while ago, round about the time I first joined you. I listened to it and someone read out co-ordinates that ended up leading somewhere slightly west of Primm." Eric said. The Courier nodded. "Then the guy just said 'Courier Six' and 'Ulysses'. That mean anything to you" He asked. The Courier thought for a second.

"Kind of. I was told in Primm that someone saw my name and let me deliver the Platinum Chip. Probably the same guy, I don't know what the fuck he has against me though." The Courier said.

"Alright, just asking. Maybe you should go there at some point, see what's happening, maybe when this is all over." Eric suggested.

"I may check it out when I've met with Yes Man, depending on what else he needs me to do." The Courier said. Eric nodded, and joined the others, while the Courier entered the Tops.

"What was that about?" Boone asked.

"Just needed to know something, doesn't matter." Eric said, waving dismissively.

"Alright then." Boone said.

"Boone, I need to ask you something." Eric said.

"What?" Boone asked.

"Do you think the Legion will be weakened significantly if we just go to Caesar and kill him?" Eric asked.

"Not really. They've got a whole succession lined up, from what intel we had back in the NCR said. If we kill him, they'll replace him as soon as word gets out." Boone said.

"So it'd be pointless to do?" Eric asked.

"No. Let's just say we get in and kill him, then somehow manage to make it out without at least one of us getting killed, we'd have killed the bastard in the middle of his fortress. It should give the rest of them something to think about." Boone said. Eric nodded. The Courier came out of the Tops.

"Where's Yes Man?" Cass asked.

"We've to go up to Mr House's penthouse, he'll jump over to another securitron." The Courier said, walking towards the gate before stopping. "Wait." He said, thinking. "Oh shit. I didn't kill any of the securitrons that were in there. That could be a problem." He said.

"That shouldn't be a problem." Eric said.

"Easy for you to say, Mr Power Armour." Cass said, pointing at Eric. "Those things will probably tear us apart." She said.

"Fine, I'll do it then." Eric said, walking ahead of the group, muttering to himself. The group entered the elevator in the Lucky 38, and began to ascend to the penthouse. Eric stepped out and raised his plasma caster. He stepped carefully towards the stairs and was immediately shot at by several securitrons. He moved behind a wall and glared over at the Courier, who shrugged, as if to say I told you so. The Courier and the others left the elevator and Eric moved out from behind cover and concentrated, aiming at the three securitrons that were beneath him, he pulled the trigger and fired plasma at the first securitron, blasting it backwards. The second securitron took a couple more shots and just collapsed, the screen blanking out and the third managed to survive, but just barely. Eric ducked back into cover to reload. Eric peered out from cover to see the securitron sitting still. It turned to face him and Eric saw that the face the securitrons normally have of an old world policeman, had been replaced with a smiling face.

"Hi there!" The securitron said.

"That's Yes Man. Put your weapon down." The Courier said walking down the stairs. Eric followed him down and looked over the penthouse.

"Impressive place." Eric said.

"Yeah, I know." The Courier said, handing chip to Yes Man. "Hey, you guys should head down to the presidential suite." He said. "Who knows how long this'll take?" He asked. "I'll be down once I'm finished here." He said.

"Alright then." Eric said, walking over to the others. "Courier said we should go down to the presidential suite.

"Really? Why?" Veronica asked.

"He said it could take a while, so we should just wait in there. He'll come get us when he's done." Eric explained. "I'll admit, I kinda want to see what it's like in there." He said.

"Fine by me." Boone said.

"Think we can order room service?" Veronica asked.

"Probably not." Eric said, walking upstairs to the elevator. The elevator descended to the presidential suite. As the group left the elevator, they looked around the room.

"I'm going to sleep, I haven't slept in a while." Boone said, walking off in search of a bed.

"Any of you two played Caravan before?" Eric asked.

"I haven't. I kinda want to learn." Veronica said.

"I know. I could teach you. How about you, Eric, you know how to play?" Cass asked.

"No, I've just been hearing about it. Teach me as well." Eric said.

"Sure, let's go." Cass said.

A while later the group heard the elevator arrive. The Courier stepped into the room the three were in.

"I fucked up!" He yelled. "Where's Boone?" He asked.

"Sleeping." Eric said. "How did you fuck up?" He asked.

"You know that Legion guy I killed?" The Courier asked.

"Yeah. Was he not Legion?" Eric asked.

"No, he was. But it turns out I need to go to the Fort and upgrade some securitrons that are in a vault." The Courier said.

"Well, they're not exactly going to let you in. Peacefully at least." Eric said.

"So, now what do I do?" The Courier asked.

"We can turn this from a simple upgrading to an assassination." Eric stated.

"Wait, what?" The Courier asked.

"We could just assassinate Caesar. Boone told me it wouldn't weaken them in any way, but we can still do it." Eric said. The Courier thought for a second.

"May as well." He said. "Go get Boone." He said to Eric as he called the elevator.

"So we're assassinating Caesar?" Boone asked as the group stepped out of the Lucky 38.

"Yeah, we wouldn't really have to if I hadn't shot that guy outside the Tops." The Courier said.

"True. I still would have recommended doing it anyway." Boone said. "I've always hoped that I'd be able to put a bullet in that bastard's skull." He said.

"What makes you say that killing Caesar won't have an effect on their army?" The Courier asked.

"Well, they've got a succession planned out. As soon as word gets out, he'll get replaced." Boone explained.

"Either way, we've just got to do it." The Courier said. "Hey, what do you think happened to that hitman?" He asked.

"Who knows?" Boone said, shrugging his shoulders. "He won't have made it back to the Fort, Caesar doesn't do well with failures. You ever heard of the Burned Man?" He asked.

"No, who is he?" The Courier asked.

"Well, he was the Legate who was at the first battle of Hoover Dam and he was damn near impossible to kill, because of his failure at the Dam, Caesar punished him, to show his men that failure won't be tolerated, no matter the rank. So he was covered in pitch, set on fire and thrown into the Grand Canyon. Some people believe that he survived. But, I doubt it." Boone explained.

"Interesting. Should we go straight to the Fort or build up supplies?" The Courier asked.

"Hoover Dam isn't too far from there, from what I can see." Eric said, looking at his Pip Boy.

"We can't go directly to the Fort. We'd have to go by Cottonwood Cove." Boone said.

"How do you know that?" Eric asked,

"I just do." Boone said.

"Fair enough. We should probably have a strategy for this." Eric said. "I don't think just walking in and shooting everyone is a smart way of doing things." He explained.

"We could get some Legion uniforms and sneak in using those." The Courier suggested.

"That wouldn't work for Cass and Veronica." Boone said.

"Hmm, you're right." The Courier said. "Should we get anything at the Gun Runners? Or are we good?" He asked, pointing to the kiosk as the group passed by.

"I'll trade in my shotgun, nothing wrong with doing more damage." Cass said, approaching the kiosk and getting some caps out.

"I may as well upgrade from this pistol." The Courier said, standing behind Cass. As Cass was walking away, the Courier stopped her. "What did you end up getting?" He asked.

"Just a hunting shotgun. It's not much, but it's better than the one I had." Cass said, walking over to join the others.

"Do you have any machine guns?" The Courier asked the vendortron. The vendortron turned away without saying anything and turned back a few seconds later, placing a white sniper rifle looking weapon on the counter. The Courier picked it up and examined it. Holding it at his chest and examining the scope. "You sure this is a machine gun? It looks more like a sniper rifle." He said, placing it back on the counter. "You know what, it doesn't matter, I'll take your word for it. How much?" He said, getting some caps out.

"10,000 caps." The vendortron said. The Courier stopped.

"Did you just say 10,000 caps?" The Courier asked incredulously.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" The vendortron asked.

"No, no. I was just surprised that's all." The Courier said, handing the caps over. "What type of ammo does this use?" He asked.

"5.56mm." The vendortron replied.

"I'll take as many as you have." The Courier said, putting more caps on the counter.

"Is that all?" The vendortron asked. The Courier nodded and walked away.

"I hope this fuckin' gun is worth it." The Courier said, as he walked away from the kiosk.

"Holy shit, nice gun." Boone said, as the Courier approached.

"It better be for the price I paid for it. What type of gun is it?" The Courier asked.

"It's a Bozar. It's really powerful. I've seen a couple over the years." Boone said. "Should definitely help at the Fort." He said.

"Kickass. Let's get going then." The Courier said, walking away from the Gun Runners kiosk.


	10. Chapter 10 - Raiders

"Hey Eric, can I speak with you for a second?" The Courier said, breaking away from the group.

"Sure." Eric said, following him. "What is it?" He asked.

"I've got to go see what Ulysses wants. It's been getting to me ever since you brought it up. We're going to have to wait until I come back to kill Caesar." The Courier explained, running his hand through his hair.

"Are we going with you or what ?" Eric asked. "If it gets ugly, we could help you out." He reasoned.

"No, no, this is something I need to do on my own." The Courier said somewhat solemnly. "Trust me, I'd love to have you guys with me, but I can't. This is just something I gotta do by myself. I don't know how long I'll be away for." The Courier said. Eric nodded.

"I don't think we can wait around in the suite until you come back. It just wouldn't feel right." Eric said.

"I get what you mean. Where will you go? You've been exiled, remember?" The Courier asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. I don't know. Fuck it, I'll just go around the wasteland." Eric decided.

"You sure that's smart?" The Courier asked, folding his arms. "I don't think people are going to react to well to seeing a Brotherhood Paladin just showing up." He said.

"I guess. Still better than nothing." Eric said, shrugging. "We should get back. Let everyone else know what's going on." He said, walking back over to the group.

"Guys, I got something to tell you." The Courier said, getting the groups attention. "A while ago, Eric here told me about a message broadcast over the radio, he picked it up on his Pip Boy, and it told him some co-ordinates and a name. Those co-ordinates lead somewhere slightly west of Primm. I need to go there, this guy clearly has something against me, and I need to find out what." The Courier said. "Right now, we can't kill Caesar. It'll need to wait until we come back. I think that's better than rushing in straight away, we should take some time and think about it." He said. "I realise that you may not want to spend a lot of time cooped up in that suite, so I'd suggest when I leave, you go back home." The Courier said.

"I'm not okay with leaving Caesar alive for now. Why not let us kill him while you're gone?" Boone asked.

"Not that I doubt your skills here, guys, but I honestly don't think you can do it by yourselves." The Courier explained.

"What's that meant to mean?" Boone said, stepping closer to the Courier. "I think we've got a good shot at this." He said, getting into the Courier's face. The Courier stood unflinching, arms folded.

"Now this is completely hypothetical here, but what if you die out there?" Eric asked, interrupting the confrontation.

"I've taken two bullets to the head, I should be fine." The Courier said, turning to face Eric.

"I guess." Eric said. "How will we know when you're back?" He asked.

"I'm just going to come find you guys, assuming you go back home." The Courier said. "But, uh, finding Eric may be a bit difficult, considering he doesn't have anywhere to go." He said, pointing to Eric.

"Why not just stay in the suite?" Boone asked.

"I could, but there's nothing for me there, it'd get depressing after a while. I'll wander around. It's not like a wandering Brotherhood Paladin is going to be hard to find." Eric said, with a shrug. Boone nodded, and turned back to face the Courier.

"Are we going to Primm now?" Boone asked.

"Yeah, may as well." The Courier said. "It's going to be dangerous as all hell, but I suggest we go south through Goodsprings, rather than going back the way we came." He suggested.

"How exactly is is going to be dangerous as all hell?" Eric asked.

"There's just a bunch of dangerous shit there." The Courier replied.

"Any specifics?" Eric asked.

"Cazadores, deathclaws and giant scorpions." The Courier said, raising a finger for each danger.

"Eh, deathclaws aren't too bad, at least not back east they weren't. I haven't really seen any here." Eric said.

"Oh shit, man. Count yourself lucky. Deathclaws here will tear you apart." The Courier said.

"Cazadores may be a problem though." Eric said. "But radscorpions don't sound too bad either. There was a type we got back home, they were huge and completely white. Not only that, they were tough sons of bitches as well." Eric said.

"There aren't any here that are like that, they may be big, but none that I've seen that are completely white. What do you guys think then? South through Goodsprings or try and go back the way we came?" The Courier asked.

"Honestly, I think we can make it if we go south, going back the way we came would take far too much time." Eric said. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Let's get going then, the sooner we get there, the better." The Courier said, and the group started off towards Goodsprings.

"Do you have any idea what this guy has against you?" Veronica asked.

"No, I don't remember doing anything to him. It must have been something big if he refused a job because he saw my name." The Courier replied.

"Remember that guy who ambushed us a while ago?" Cass asked.

"Yeah, I wonder what happened to him." The Courier replied.

"Think he ever made it back to Caesar?" Cass asked.

"No, like Boone said, he probably would have been killed." The Courier replied.

"There was something off about him, like he didn't seem to be part of the Legion." Boone said.

"What makes you say that?" Eric asked.

"Just a feeling." Boone replied, with a shrug. The group proceeded south down a road, and noticed a small town, just off the main road.

"Should we check the place out?" The Courier asked, turning towards the others.

"May as well, we could look for supplies there, at the very least." Eric said.

"Remember, this is cazador territory." Boone said. "We shouldn't stick around for too long." He said.

"We'll be fine, we've only run into a couple of cazadores so far, it's not that bad." The Courier said.

"That's what's worrying me. We should've run into more cazadores, especially around here." Boone explained. The Courier,walked into the town, and scanned the area.

"Let's just look around out here, and see what we can find. This place looks like a ghost town." The Courier said. "Let's just split up so we can cover more ground." He said. The group separated and looked around. Eric didn't notice anything special as he walked around, except two bottle caps with a blue star on them, he decided to pocket them, in case they were worth anything, and next to those, a combat knife embedded into the wall, he pulled it out and took it with him. As he turned to leave, he saw someone in metal armour running towards him, fists raised. Eric was frozen in confusion as the person got closer, when the person approached, Eric noticed she was wearing spiked knuckles, she started to punch at him, Eric drew the knife and slashed at the woman. The woman just ignored this.

"Must be some drugged up raider." Eric muttered to himself. He stepped forward and stabbed the knife into the woman's neck, who staggered back and leaned against a wall. "Hey! Come help me with this!" Eric yelled. A few seconds later, Boone silently approached, aiming his hunting rifle at the woman's head, he waited, making sure he had the shot lined up and pulled the trigger. The woman crumpled to the ground, dead. Eric nodded to Boone and started searching the body.

"Really, you're going to loot her?" Boone asked, putting his rifle on his back.

"Yeah, why?" Eric said. Boone shook his head.

"No reason." He said, walking away. Eric looked closer at the spiked knuckles the woman had.

"Hmm, love and hate..." Eric said, reading the plates of the knuckles. He slipped the knuckles on over his gloves. "This could work." He muttered to himself. He stood up and looked for any other supplies when he heard a burst of shots from somewhere and ran towards it, when he approached, he saw the Courier standing over three bodies, one of them wearing the same metal armour as the one who attacked him. "Shit, nice work." Eric said, walking up to the Courier. "Who are these guys, raiders?" He asked. The Courier said.

"Yeah, they may as well be." The Courier said, looking down at the corpses. "You find anything?" He asked.

"I found two star bottle caps, a knife and some spiked knuckle dusters." Eric said. The Courier nodded.

"Those star bottle caps are rare. I've heard that if you get 50 of them, you can find a great treasure in the Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters. I've got 17 so far." The Courier said.

"You actually believe there's some great treasure?" Eric asked.

"Not really, but hey, no harm in trying." The Courier said with a shrug. "Now what need do you have, with your big ass plasma caster, for a knife and knuckle dusters?" He asked.

"It feels like a waste of charge packs to just use it on some people." Eric explained.

"Fair enough. Anything else?" The Courier asked. Eric shook his head. "Alright, let's get out of here. This felt kinda pointless." He said, walking away.


	11. Chapter 11 - Lonesome Road

The group came across a wreckage of burnt out cars and other things. Around the wreckage, there was some graffiti, including a backwards 6, the words "You can go home, Courier" "the Divide" "Lonesome Road" and "Courier 6?" The Courier approached the gate and pushed it open. "Well, I guess this is it." He said, facing the group.

"Try not to die, man." Eric said, patting him on the back. The Courier chuckled at this. He stepped through the gate, into the unknown and left the group alone.

"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Veronica asked, as Eric shut the gate.

"You know the Courier, he'll be fine. Now, are you all going back separately or should we go together?" Eric asked.

"It'd be safer going all together, but it'd take a while." Boone said.

"It shouldn't take too long if we don't stop, right, we start at the Mojave Outpost, go to Novac, then go to the trading post." Eric said.

"Sounds fine by me. Where're you going to go?" Boone asked.

"I don't know, I figured I'd wander around, but I can't be bothered doing that. I'll just stay in Vegas." Eric said.

"Remember, you still have the room in Novac." Boone said.

"Yeah, I remember." Eric said, nodding. "Let's get going, the sooner we go, the sooner we get there. Oh, I need to stop in Primm. There's something I need to ask someone there." Eric said.

"I'm not in any hurry to get back." Cass said.

"Me neither." Boone and Veronica said, shrugging. The group walked east into Primm. As they were crossing the bridge into town, a voice called out.

"Hey, Paladin!" The voice shouted. Eric turned to face the NCR soldier approaching him gun drawn, but not aimed at him.

"What do you want?" Eric asked, with a sigh. The soldier scoffed.

"You do realise this is NCR territory, right?" The soldier said. Eric sighed again.

"Not really, but then again, I don't really care." Eric said.

"Well,I don't think I can let a Paladin in here, considering our history." The soldier said.

"For fucks sake." Eric said, putting his hand up to his face. "You have a war with the Legion going on, man. They slaughtered a town just south of here, there's more important things going on out there other than a Paladin just waltzing into your territory." He said, turning away from the soldier. "Let's go, guys." He said, leaving the soldier standing speechless.

"Wait, wait! Did you just say that the Legion slaughtered a town?" The soldier said, rushing up to Eric.

"Yeah, were you not told this? Someone I know told the people at the Outpost. I assume it would have made its way around." Eric said.

"I haven't heard anything about this. Shit. This isn't good." The soldier said, walking off.

"Let's get going." Eric said, walking over the bridge.

"Why are we here?" Boone asked.

"I wanted to talk to someone here. The Courier said someone here had told him about Ulysses. I wanted to know if I could find anything else out about him." Eric explained.

"Then what? You can't exactly tell him." Veronica stated.

"I guess I just want to know. Know why Ulysses wants to meet with him so bad. He talked about an ending to things. I want to know what things." Eric said, knocking the door of a house, with the words Mojave Express on the roof. The door opened slightly, and the man behind it widened his eyes.

"What do you want?" The man asked.

"Do you run this place?" Eric asked.

"Yes, I'm Johnson Nash." Nash said, opening the door fully. "You can come in if you want, don't want to be rude." He said, stepping aside. Eric and the others entered.

"Thank you. What do you know of a man named Ulysses?" Eric asked.

"He was a courier here. He was going to deliver something to Vegas." Nash said.

"A platinum chip?" Eric asked.

"Yes, but he cancelled. Because he saw another courier's name. I didn't understand why he cancelled at the sight of this guy's name, but he did." Nash said.

"What did he say when he cancelled the job?" Eric asked.

"Well, shit." Nash said, stepping behind his desk and leaning on it. "It was a while ago, I'm not sure if I..." He said, trailing off in thought. "Oh yeah, all he said was 'No, let Courier Six carry the package.' That's what he said, like the Mojave would sort him out or something. Then he just up and walked out." Nash explained. Eric thought for a second.

"Thanks for that." Eric said, as he turned to go. He looked on the desk and saw an eyebot. "Is that yours?" Eric asked, pointing at it.

"Yeah, a courier dropped it off a while ago. I always meant to get around to fixing it, but I never did. If you can fix it, you can have it, I have no use for it anymore." Nash said. Eric picked the eyebot up.

"Thanks." He said, walking outside.

"You're just going to fix that robot?" Boone said.

"Yeah." Eric said, nodding. "I can fix things. I had to fix some stuff a lot back in DC. Not only that, but there was a huge ass robot that ended up getting busted sometime before I joined so I ended up doing some things on that." Eric explained. Boone nodded.

"How big was this robot?" Veronica asked.

"Let's just say if anyone in this war were to get their hands on this thing, it'd change the tide of the war pretty damn quickly." Eric said, looking for a workbench. He found one and walked quickly over to it, he placed the eyebot onto the bench. Eric started to get some scrap metal and electronics from around the bench. "The weird thing is, it spouted anti communist sayings. It was really kinda intimidating. The robot's name was Liberty Prime. I thought it was really interesting, I have a bunch of notes on it back home." Eric explained as he worked on the eyebot. After a couple of minutes, the eyebot turned on and started floating in the air. "Er, I should remember this." Eric muttered to himself. "Companion Protocol begin." Eric commanded. The eyebot started beeping at him. "We should name you buddy." He said examining the eyebot. "How about ED-E.?" He asked, somewhat rhetorically. "Come on, let's go." Eric said, walking back to the bridge. As they passed, they noticed the soldier who approached Eric wasn't there anymore. The walk to the Outpost was silent, except for ED-E's beeping. Eric cleared his throat.

Are you guys going to do anything while the Courier is gone?" Eric asked.

"I'm going back to sniping, I wonder how Manny's been dealing with me being gone." Boone said.

"I'm sure he was fine." Eric said.

"Yeah, probably." Boone said.

"What about you Cass?" Eric asked.

"What I was doing in the first place." Cass replied.

"Just sitting here, drinking the day away?" Eric asked. Cass nodded.

"Nothing wrong with that." She said. Eric shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess not." Eric said. "I have to ask you something, Veronica." He said, stopping and walking away. Boone and Cass shrugged as Veronica looked at them and followed Eric.

"What is it?" She asked. Eric took his helmet off.

"I've told you what happened when I was exiled, didn't I?" Eric asked. Veronica nodded.

"There's some things I need to tell McNamara. You know as well as I do that the Vegas chapter of the Brotherhood is dying. They need to open their doors, or at least change in some way." He said, with a sombre look on his face.

"I know. When you drop Boone off at Novac, we should go to the bunker." Veronica said. Eric nodded and put his helmet back on and walked back over to Boone and Cass. Eric gave a little sigh as he saw the hill leading up to the NCR Outpost and cursed to himself.

"You alright?" Boone said, looking at Eric.

"What? Yeah, yeah, just dandy." Eric said, walking up the hill. When they reached the top, Cass stepped in front of the group and turned.

"Well, I guess this is it for now." She said.

"Fuck that, I'm getting a drink." Eric said, walking towards the bar, taking his helmet off.

"Yeah, I could go for a drink." Boone said, following Eric. Cass and Veronica shrugged at each other as they ran to catch up with the two.

"How long do you think the Courier's going to be away for?" Cass asked.

"I'd say about a week." Eric said, taking a swig of whiskey.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Boone said. "Got any stories from DC, Eric?" He asked.

"Eh, nothing too interesting. By the time I joined, the Enclave were pretty much dead. The Vault guy who left to find his dad ended up destroying a base the Enclave were using. I wasn't there when it happened, but I heard stories. Then all that we had to do was clear up some super mutants. It was really kinda boring by the time I joined up." Eric explained.

"What time is it?" Boone said. Eric glanced at his Pip Boy and sighed.

"2 in the morning." He said, putting his head in his hands. "How the fuck did this happen?" He asked, standing and grabbing his helmet. "See you later, Cass." He said, putting his helmet on and walking outside. The others waved and followed Eric.


	12. Chapter 12 - The Divide

The trio walked quickly down the hill from the NCR Outpost, trying to make up for the lost time drinking at the bar. "Do you think going through Nipton is necessary?"" Eric asked, as they got to the bottom of the hill and started walking east.

"Probably not." Boone said.

"Why, what happened in Nipton?" Veronica asked.

"Legion came through, killed almost everyone there." Eric said. "I assume no-one's passed through recently, so the bodies are still going to be up." He said. "Did we pass through Nipton on our way back from the Outpost?" He asked.

"No, we went around. Courier didn't want to go through there again." Boone replied. Eric nodded.

"Anyway, to get away from this morbid topic, do you think it's going to be awkward in Novac, considering what you did?" Eric asked.

"What did he do?" Veronica asked.

"I killed someone. I had my reasons, I'd rather not go into it." Boone said. "Anyway, I don't think awkward is the right word for it. Maybe I can talk my way out of any trouble." He said.

"Who knows?" Eric said with a shrug. ""What're you going to do if they won't let you back in?" He asked.

"I'll make it, trust me, they don't have anyone else who has my training, other than Manny." Boone said, confidently.

"Alright then, fair enough." Eric said.

"What are you going to do while the Courier is gone?" Boone asked. "Just sit around in the suite and hope something comes up?" He asked.

"No, Veronica and I need to talk with the Elder." Eric said.

"I thought you were exiled?" Boone asked, Eric nodded.

"I am." He said, bluntly.

"What if they don't let you back in?" Boone asked.

"I don't care, what are they gonna do, kill me?" Eric asked, chuckling.

"Well, they might. They might also be pissed about you taking the armour and caster." Boone said.

"I told you, man, I'm taking it back to DC." Eric said. Boone raised his hands defensively.

"OK man, just kidding around with you." He said. "Still, they could see it as their property." He reasoned.

"Huh, so they could." Eric said. "Either way, I'm still going in and they can't do shit to stop me." Eric said.

"Well, I guess not." Boone said.

"What are you going to say to the Elder?" Eric asked.

"I've not got anything planned, but just that the Brotherhood needs to open their doors or we're going to die out." Veronica said.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I said." Eric said, nodding.

"Pretty much? Was it specifically what you said?" Veronica asked.

"No. I did say we were going to get completely wiped out due to the war going on. Then he said that I couldn't come back if I decided to leave." Eric said.

"Probably wasn't the best way of putting it." Veronica said.

"Yeah, probably not. I've still got the suite key for Novac, I think we should stay there overnight, get our energy back." Eric suggested.

"I could do with a bed. What are you going to do after we've ta;led with the Elder?" Veronica asked.

"Eh, probably go back to the suite." Eric said, after a seconds thought.

"In Novac?" Veronica asked.

"No, Vegas." Eric said. "Oh shit, we made it to Nipton." Eric said, noticing smoke rising from behind some buildings. "May as well pass through now." He said. The group walked down the road into the town and turned a corner.

"Fuck." Boone said, noticing the makeshift crosses. "Of course they're still up." He muttered to himself, looking at the people attached to the crosses.

"The Legion did this?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah. I have no idea why. Should we try and find out?" Eric asked.

"No, there'd be nothing to find." Boone said.

"The Legion don't seem the type to just loot places, should we try and get supplies from the store?" Eric said, gesturing back towards the Nipton general store. Boone silently nodded and followed Eric as he opened the door. Eric noticed a man slumped over on a chair. "Why do you think he didn't get crucified?" Eric said, pointing towards him.

"Maybe he died before they could get him up." Boone suggested. Eric walked to the back.

"I'm gonna check upstairs." He said, knocking on the wall. The man in the chair jolted up at this and looked around wildly.

"Who the hell are you?" The man asked, slouching over in pain.

"We're just passing through, trying to get some supplies." Eric said. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Name's Boxcars. I'm a powder ganger. Or at least I was, until the Legion came through." Boxcars said.

"What did they do here? Why did they leave you and crucify everyone else?" Boone asked.

"It was a lottery. First place went free. Second place, that's me, gets their legs broken and got to go free. Some others got enslaved. Everyone else got crucified. The mayor didn't, he got burned alive on a pile of tires." Boxcars said.

"You need anything here?" Eric asked.

"Could do with some Med-X to dull the pain, other than that, I'm just dandy." Boxcars said.

"We've not got any on us right now." Eric said. Boxcars sighed.

"Bullshit, you've got some, you just want to keep it for yourself." Boxcars said, scoffing.

"Well, I was going to say I'd come back if I found some, but you just fucked yourself over." Eric said, walking to the exit. "Let's leave this guy to his pain." He said, opening the door.

"That was a bit harsh, wasn't it?" Veronica said.

"Hey, he shouldn't have been an asshole about it." Eric said, shrugging. Let's go, we should be able to make it to Novac by the end of the day if we're quick." Eric said. A they walked down the road exiting Nipton, ED-E started to beep. "What is he doing?" Eric muttered to himself as he stopped to examine ED-E. ED-E started to beep and produced some electron charge packs. Eric took them and put them away. "Could he always do that?" Eric asked, turning to Veronica and Boone who both shrugged. "Hmm." Eric said, as he continued walking.

 **The Divide**

The Courier felt uneasy as he opened the door of a missile silo. He didn't know what to expect and thought something would immediately try to kill him, he paused and pulled his Bozar from his back, not taking any chances. He approached a door and tried to open it, to no avail. He kicked it in frustration and turned to explore the room he was in. He opened a door across from him and carefully walked in, he wasn't going to die here, in some run down old silo, before even figuring out what this Ulysses had against him. He saw a terminal for some sort of maintenance bot. He released it, hoping it would be able to unlock that door in the entrance. Smoke filled the air as a nearby pod opened, as the smoke cleared an eyebot came out. "Are you shitting me?" The Courier muttered to himself, feeling slightly underwhelmed. "Can you understand me?" The Courier said, examining the eyebot. The eyebot beeped at him. "Why did I expect any different?" He asked himself. "I'm going to assume you can. Follow me, little guy, let's see if you can unlock this door." He said, waving the eyebot over to him. The eyebot slowly moved towards some sort of console on the wall. "The door in the main room had one of those next to it." The Courier said, watching the eyebot approach the console. The eyebot beeped some more before zapping the console. The console whirred to life and the eyebot moved away, the Courier stepped up and examined the console. He saw an opening on the side. "I think I could fit a cap in there, is this some sort of store?" He asked himself. "Interesting." The Courier said, walking back to the main room.

 **The Mojave**

"Well, see you later Boone." Eric said, as Boone sent Manny out of the snipers nest.

"See you." Boone said, not even looking at Veronica and Eric, the two left and went downstairs.

"What now?" Veronica asked.

"We rest. Then go to Hidden Valley." Eric said. "Let's go to the room." He said, getting the suite keys from his pocket. As they entered the room, Veronica walked quickly to one of the beds and lay down. Eric took his power armour off, leaving his recon armour on.

"Do you not have any other clothes?" Veronica asked, watching Eric.

"No." Eric said, taking his recon helmet off.

"I don't know why, but I expected you to have shorter hair." She said, looking at Eric's hair.

"Yeah, I've gotten that before." Eric said, turning off the lights before lying on the bed. It took a while for him to get to sleep, he kept wondering about what'd happen when he went into the bunker. Would the Elder have him shot on sight? He had no way of knowing. After a while he started to drift off to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13 - I Could Make You Care

Eric woke early, he hadn't really slept, he wondered about how the Elder was going to react to him just turning up. He put his armour on and went outside. He walked down the stairs and into the dinosaur, he hoped the guy running the store was there so he could get some supplies. The man wasn't there, so Eric just went back to the room, as he was leaving, another man in a red beret came in. "Hey man. I saw you earlier, what's a Brotherhood guy like yourself doing here?" Manny asked.

"I'm not from the Brotherhood, at least, not anymore." Eric explained.

"How?" Manny asked. "What did you do?" He asked.

"Ask Boone, he'll explain it to you." Eric said, waving his hand dismissively.

"How would Boone know?" Manny asked.

"You sure ask a lot of questions, huh?" Eric asked. "I travelled with him for a while." Eric said.

"Well, alright then. I'll see you later, maybe." Manny said, as he walked up to the snipers nest. Eric left and went back up to the room. As he entered, he saw Veronica sitting in bed looking bored.

"What, did you not decide to come looking for me?" Eric asked, closing the door behind him. "I mean, what if I left town?"

"No, I knew you wouldn't go to the bunker by yourself." Veronica said.

"How do you figure?" Eric asked, folding his arms.

"You seemed worried about what Boone said, about them possibly killing you when you showed up." Veronica explained.

"How did you figure that?" Eric asked.

"Well, you couldn't seem to sleep last night and you woke up early." Veronica explained. Eric paused for a second.

"Yeah, alright, fair enough. Let's get going, we're wasting time here." Eric said, opening the door again and stepping outside. A while later, Eric and Veronica entered Hidden Valley. "You know, this almost constant sandstorm really messed with me the first couple of times I came here?" Eric said.

"Really?" Veronica asked. "Honestly, I could see that happening." Veronica said.

"Yeah, I kept getting lost, it wasn't fun. Anyway, here's the bunker." Eric said, opening the door.

"You sure about that, after that story?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, I said first couple of times." Eric said, entering the bunker. "Ha! See, this is it!" He yelled. Eric approached the intercom next to the door. "You got a password for this?" Eric asked.

"Sure. Step aside." Veronica said, as she approached the intercom. "I'd like a large Atomic Shake and a double Brahmin burger. And easy on the agave sauce this time." She said.

"That doesn't count, and you know it." Eric said, shaking his head.

"We gave you a password, Veronica. It's for your safety." Ramos said from the intercom.

"Just open up, Ramos." Veronica said. Ramos sighed and the door opened a couple of seconds later. The two stepped in.

"Hadley? What are you doing here? The Elder told me you weren't allowed back in." Ramos said.

"Well, you've done well so far." Eric said. "I'm here with Veronica, she needs to speak with the Elder about something." He explained. Ramos sighed.

"The Elder is going to kill me for this." Ramos muttered to himself. "Don't cause any trouble Hadley, but off the record, it's good to see you again." He said.

"Same to you. Hey, is Harry in?" Eric asked.

"He should be." Ramos said.

"Alright, I'll need to go find him." Eric said, following Veronica downstairs.

"Who's Harry?" Veronica asked, as they made their way to the Elder.

"Just a friend." Eric said. "We had our fair share of acquiring other people's energy weapons that were sometimes broken up with the occasional raider attack." Eric said.

"Why call them raiders?" Veronica asked. "They're called Fiends here." She said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Does it really matter, they're the same thing." Eric said.

"I guess not, it's just weird hearing someone call them raiders." Veronica said with a shrug. They reached the Elder's chambers and stood outside. "Are you coming in?" Veronica asked as Eric hesitated entering the chambers.

"I'm going to see if I can find Harry, I'll be there in a few minutes." Eric said.

"Alright then." Veronica said as she walked into the Elder's chambers. Eric went up the stairs to look for Harry. After a couple of minutes, he was ready to go down to see Veronica when he noticed someone following him.

"How's it going, Vault boy?" Harry asked, taking off his helmet. Eric chuckled.

"Can't complain, how's it going with you?" Eric asked.

"Well, the Elder was pissed when you left, he asked me if I knew anything about it after you left." Harry said. "Even though I didn't, he seemed to believe I did and I'm stuck in here." He said, sighing.

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." Eric said.

"Nah, it's fine, the other guys think I was treated unfairly, so they've been trying to get him to change his mind. Either way, it did get boring out there at times." Harry said.

"Yeah, it says something when getting attacked by Fiends is the most exciting thing to happen on a patrol." Eric said.

"It may have been boring, but it was good to get outside every once in a while. Anyway, what're you doing here?" Harry asked.

"I'm here with someone who wants to speak with the Elder." Eric said.

"Did this person not know you're not in the Brotherhood at the moment." Harry asked.

"Yeah, but even if she didn't it wouldn't matter, she's Brotherhood as well." Eric said. "We just kind of recruited her at some point at a trading post." He said.

"How did you manage that and who is she?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, I think she was just bored standing around the post. Her name's Veronica." Eric said.

"Oh shit, yeah, I know her." Harry said.

"Yeah, well the courier I joined when I left had to go do something out west, something to do with a guy who hates him, frankly, I have no idea what this guy has against him." Eric said. "Anyway, I should probably go, Veronica has probably finished up with the Elder." Eric said, walking downstairs.

"See you, man." Harry said as he walked off. Eric stood outside of the Elder's chambers where he saw Veronica standing in thought.

"What's up?" Eric said, as he approached her.

"The Elder won't listen." She said. "We need to find something, anything that we can use to try and convince the Elder to actually take in new recruits." Veronica explained.

"Like what?" Eric asked.

"Well, I need to go find Father Elijah's notes." Veronica said, walking upstairs, Eric followed her.

"Who the hell is Father Elijah?" Eric asked.

"He was the Elder before McNamara." Veronica said.

"Alright then, why do you need to find his notes?" Eric asked.

"He's got research on some things that I think can help convince McNamara." Veronica explained.

"Where are these notes, exactly." Eric asked.

"Just follow me." Veronica said, opening the door to leave the bunker.

 **The Divide**

"How the hell are you speaking through ED-E?" The Courier asked.

"Given a name to this machine?" Ulysses said, a slight tone of disgust in his voice as he said the word machine."

"Look Ulysses, I'm in no mood for your bullshit here, I assume you know what I went through in there, so just tell me what to do to get to you?" The Courier said, shaking his head.

"There are warheads in your way, there's a detonator somewhere down there, find it." Ulysses said.

"Fine. I'll find this detonator, then I'm coming for you." The Courier said.

"Road gets rougher from here. Left marks for you, colours will tell the way. If you're smart." Ulysses said.

ED-E beeped shortly afterwards, indicating that Ulysses wasn't talking through ED-E anymore. As the Courier descended to the town nearby, Bozar drawn, he saw more of the ghouls he saw back in the silo, they looked like Legion and NCR, but they weren't attacking each other. The Courier aimed for one of them and shot, killing it almost instantly. The rest drew their weapons and fired, The Courier ran for cover and thought of a way to survive this. A few stray bullets hit the Courier, but nothing that could stop him. After the ghouls had died, the Courier started to look through the various buildings trying to find the detonator. He finally found it on the upper part of a building, next to a rocket launcher with the American flag painted on the side. He picked it up, along with the canisters of rockets that were next to it. "Could definitely get a use out of this." The Courier muttered to himself, as he strapped it onto his back. He picked up the detonator and examined it, he looked around and saw a warhead, blocking his way. He went down to the ground to try and find a good place to detonate it, preferably behind some cover. He pulled the trigger on the detonator, which fired lasers out of it at the warhead, seconds later, as it started to glow, it detonated, clearing the way forward.


	14. Chapter 14 - Rangefinder

Veronica stopped in front of a scrapyard and turned. "There's a shack near here, that's what we're looking for." Veronica said.

"Well, lead the way." Eric said, looking around. "You know,, if it wasn't for the Courier, I would've left for DC by now." He said, following Veronica as she walked to where she remembered the shack being.

"Really?" Veronica asked, turning her head to face Eric.

"Yeah, I have nothing here, I like Vegas better than DC, but DC is my home." Eric said. "I wouldn't even have anything to do there except kill some super mutants." He said. "Is this it? Eric said, pointing to a shack.

"Yeah, that's it." Veronica said, entering the shack. "Anyway, what's wrong with killing super mutants, you're keeping the wasteland safe, aren't you?" She asked, as she accessed the terminal.

"Nothing's wrong with it, it's just boring, and there's no-one to keep safe, the only people wandering the wasteland are caravans and the can handle themselves." Eric said, he looked around the shack and noticed a machete embedded in the wall, he walked over and saw that it had a finger on it. "Why the fuck is there a finger on a machete in here?" Eric asked, carefully picking the finger up.

"Wait, what?" Veronica asked, looking over.

"Yeah, there's a finger on a machete." Eric explained. "You find what you're looking for?" He asked.

"Kinda. There's three things here. A rangefinder, some farming technology the NCR was looking intoand the main one I was thinking of, the pulse gun." Veronica said.

"Right, talk me through them. What's this about a pulse gun?" Eric asked.

"It was an electromagnetic weapon, developed before the Great War. Mainly as a countermeasure to power armour." Veronica explained, logging off of the terminal and standing up.

"Shit, that could do some damage. Where is it?" Eric asked.

"Nellis Air Force Base." Veronica said. Eric thought for a second.

"I'm not so sure about that one." Eric said. "I've heard about Nellis. The people there are really xenophobic, and they bomb anyone who tries approaching." Eric explained.

"Wait, really? Huh, that could put a damper on that. Anyway, the rangefinder is a targeting device for a weapon at HELIOS One. We held HELIOS One for a long time, lost a lot of people defending it." Veronica explained.

"Do you think the NCR are just going to let us walk in there and get this thing?" Eric asked.

"Not really, but they don't have to know that we're Brotherhood, do they?" Veronica asked.

"I guess not, I just need to get some different armour. But how would we get in there?" Eric asked.

"How about we just say we're from the NCR?" Veronica asked.

"Are you serious? That'd never work, they'd see right through it." Eric said.

"And do you have any better ideas?" Veronica asked.

"Not at the moment, but if we go there, you bet your ass I could come up with something." Eric said.

"Alright then, you're on. We'll go to HELIOS One after we get the rangefinder." Veronica said.

"Wait, I thought the rangefinder was in HELIOS One." Eric said.

"Nope, Father Elijah said he thinks a scavenger may have sold it on the Strip." Veronica said. Eric put his face in his hands.

"Seriously? I don't want to walk up there, only to come back down. What's this farming technology the NCR were looking into." Eric said, irritated.

"Well, it's supposedly a vegetation enhancer. The NCR has a science branch headquartered at McCarran airport and I guess they found something." Veronica explained. "It's not a weapon, so the Brotherhood never saw fit to look into it, but self sufficiency is a good thing to have." She said.

"Isn't McCarran really close to the Strip?" Eric asked.

"Yeah." Veronica said.

"Goddamn it." Eric muttered to himself. "Right, let's just get the farming technology and the rangefinder. The more things we have, the better chance we have for this, right?" Eric asked.

"I guess so. Let's get going." Veronica said, leaving the shack.

 **The Divide**

After the Courier destroyed the warhead that was blocking his way, he proceeded along and saw a collapsed overpass, seeing no other way to go, he went down towards it and found an entrance to a tunnel, he entered and walked through, waiting for ED-E to join him. As he walked through, the Courier noticed a deathclaw walking past, he stepped back and drew his Bozar, carefully making his way towards it. He heard some growling and the deathclaw being attacked, the Courier waited a couple of seconds before going to investigate. "What the fuck?" He said as he walked closer to the deathclaw, lying on the ground dead. "What the hell could have killed a deathclaw, and so easily?" He asked himself. He heard a noise and turned to see a humanoid with dark skin and large glowing eyes. The Courier examined it as the creature warily moved towards the Courier before jumping towards him. The Courier stepped out of the way and fired towards it, with ED-E zapping it with its arc welder, killing the creature. The Courier heard the growls of more of the creatures and ran towards what he hoped was the exit, firing behind him sporadically as ED-E started beeping in a scared manner. As he reached the exit, he looked behind him, none of the creatures had followed him. The Courier breathed a sigh of relief and stepped outside.

"I see you made it through the underpass." Ulysses said, taking over ED-E again.

"Yeah, what were those things in there?" The Courier asked.

"Tunnelers, predators of the Divide. The Divide broke open their sky, showed them the world above, and the scent of new prey." Ulysses said.

"Right." The Courier said, after a seconds pause. "What's up with those ghouls I saw earlier, some of them were NCR and some of the were Legion." He said.

"The Marked Men." Ulysses said. "Some of them have fashioned false versions of the mask of Legate Lanius. Thought it was an insult at first. Know better now." He said. "The storms tore the skin from them, exposed them to the Divide. No matter how much they suffer, the radiation, fire of the Divide, sustains them. Makes them stronger." Ulysses said.

"Tell me something, why did you call yourself Ulysses?" THe Courier asked.

"Not my given name, close enough." Ulysses said. "It's an Old World name, I took it from a book, from history." He said.

"Trust me here, man, I'd love to keep talking, but I think I got the attention of some of these Marled Men." The Courier said, looking over ED-E and noticing some Marked Men approaching. ED-E beeped, indicating that Ulysses had left and faced towards the approaching ghouls. The Courier drew his Bozar and started firing at the ghouls.

 **The Mojave**

"I don't think the NCR will be too happy with one of the Brotherhood just walking into their main base." Eric said, as he stopped Veronica in front of Camp McCarran.

"I know, I'm trying to think of a way past that." Veronica said.

"Well, the Gun Runners sell armour, I could just buy that, leave this somewhere and just go in." Eric said.

"I guess, but I don't think they'll let us in anyway, we're not NCR, we're just civilians." Veronica said.

"Just make something up, we're going to do it at HELIOS One, why not here?" Eric asked. "Let's just go to the Strip and try and find the rangefinder." Eric said, looking towards the Lucky 38.

"Alright then." Veronica said, walking towards the Strip.

"I heard at the Outpost that the NCR are having some trouble with the Fiends, we can try and get in with that." Eric suggested.

"Really? Yeah, that could work." Veronica said.

"Maybe Mick and Ralph will know something about the rangefinder. Let's ask them." Eric said.

"What makes you think they know anything?" Veronica asked.

"They just seem like they know what's going on around Freeside." Eric said. "Either way, asking around some places could help us out." Eric said.

"Fair enough. What're you going to do after we give this to the Elder?" Veronica asked.

"Probably just gamble, I've wanted to do that since I came to the Strip, and I guess I just didn't have enough time." Eric said.

"So, you're just going to do that until the Courier comes back?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, pretty much, I've got nothing better to do." Eric said. "And besides, nothing wrong with taking a break every once in a while." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm not saying there is, I'm just saying that it seems like it'd get boring after a while." Veronica said.

"Maybe." Eric said as he stood in front of the Gun Runners kiosk. "You got any armour back there?" He asked, getting some caps out. The vendortron didn't respond as it searched the kiosk. It came back with reinforced combat armour. "Yeah, that'll do fine." Eric said, putting the caps on the kiosk and walking off to join Veronica. "Let's go find this rangefinder. Eric said as he put the armour on.

"What're you going to do with the power armour?" Veronica asked.

"I'll put it in the suite." Eric said.

 **Author's note: Sorry about last week, I had some things I had to do for school, and honestly, I have a problem with procrastinating.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Bounties

"I'll go up to the suite, you wait here." Eric said, standing outside the gate to Vegas, looking at the securitrons guarding the way in.

"Why can I not come with you?" Veronica asked.

"Well, it's not like you need anything, right? Besides, you can ask Mick and Ralph about the rangefinder. You know what this thing looks like?" Eric asked.

"Roughly, yeah." Veronica said.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Eric said, walking past the securitrons.

As Eric was going to enter the Lucky 38, he noticed a man standing nearby, watching him, he thought nothing of it and went up to the suite. He left his armour and helmet on top of the wardrobe in the main bedroom and left. As he went to go back to Freeside, he noticed the man still standing there. The man limped over to him.

"Eric Hadley, Caesar would like to speak with you." The man said.

"No thanks, you're alright." Eric said, trying to get past the man. "Wait." He said, stopping. "Do I know you, you seem familiar." He asked.

"I tried killing the Courier. You were there and you left me for dead." Josh said.

"Oh yeah, you. I think saying I left you for dead is an exaggeration. You got shot in the knee." Eric said, shaking his head. "How did Caesar let you survive anyway? I heard that he kills anyone who fails him." He asked.

"I just told him I was outnumbered, and that I misjudged him." Josh said.. "He gave me one more chance. I'm taking you to Caesar so you can tell him where the Courier is." He said.

"Like I said before, no. What could you possibly tell me to convince me otherwise?" Eric asked.

"Well, how about being spared by the Legion when they take the Dam?" Josh asked.

"Nah. They're probably not going to take it. Next offer." Eric said.

"I think it's best if you negotiate this with Caesar himself." Josh said, turning to walk away. "Come to the Fort within a week, or I will kill you and your companion." He said, limping away.

"OK, have fun with that." Eric said. "Idiot." He muttered under his breath. He waited a few minutes before going back to Freeside, as he did, he noticed Veronica waiting by the gate. "Hey, you find it?" He asked.

"Yeah." Veronica said, holding the ranegfinder up. "Some kid had it." She said.

"How'd you get it off them?" Eric asked.

"I asked really politely." Veronica said.

"Really? That doesn't seem like your way of doing things?" Eric said.

"No, I gave him some caps." Veronica said. "Now, are you ready to go find out about this farming technology?" She asked.

"Yeah, may as well. How are we getting in again? Saying we're there to help with the Fiends?" Eric asked.

"Yeah." Veronica said, opening the gate to leave Freeside. "While we're there, we should see if anyone inside the main building itself could use some help, that way we can at least ask around about whatever this technology is." She said.

"Fair enough." Eric said, advancing towards Camp McCarran. They approached the gate and were stopped by two soldiers.

"What's your business here?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Well, my friend and I heard you have some Fiend problems." Eric said. The soldiers looked at each other.

"Yeah, we do. You think you can help us with that?" The soldier said.

"Yeah, probably. Do you think those bastards have a chance of surviving a shot from a plasma caster?" Eric asked, getting his plasma caster from his back.

"Well, I guess not, come on in." The other soldier said. "You'll want to talk to Major Dhatri." He said. "Oh and make sure you have a knife or something ready." He said, as Eric and Veronica entered the camp.

"Well, that sounded ominous." Eric said, looking around the camp.

"Who the hell is Major Dhatri?" Veronica asked.

"Let's ask around, or we can just ask around for any information, it's not like those two are going to tell everyone what we're here to do." Eric said.

"They'll probably have to report something to someone, so we should at least talk to Dhatri." Veronica reasoned.

"Yeah, maybe. Let's go find someone who looks like they know what's going on." Eric said, scanning the camp. "There's some guys in First Recon berets over there, let's go ask them." Eric said, walking over to the First Recon. "Hey, do you know where Dhatri is?" He asked one of the snipers as he approached.

"N-n-not specifically, but h-he should be around here somewhere. H-h-he's got a beret on as well, but not a First Recon one." The man said.

"Thanks man, by the way, are you alright?" Eric asked.

"What? Oh, yeah. I-it's just a little stutter. Had it since I was a k-kid." The man said.

"What do they call you, man?" Eric asked.

"M-me? 10 of Spades." He said.

"!0 of Spades? Not what I would've went for, but whatever." Eric said.

"Yeah, I know. I w-wanted to be Ace of Spades, but the LT said I was too green. H-he also said I could move up with a few more under my belt." 10 of Spades explained.

"To what, 9 of Spades?" Eric asked.

"No, man. J-jack of Spades. Sounds better, d-d-don't you think? I think I'll skip Queen though." 10 of Spades said.

"Makes sense. I need to talk with Dhatri, so catch you later?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, sure." 10 of Spades said. "S-s-see ya." He said.

"See ya, Spades." Eric said, walking to join Veronica. "He's in a beret, but not a First Recon beret." Eric said.

"That helps. Somewhat." Veronica said. "There he is, I think." She said, pointing to a man wearing a beret. Eric and Veronica walked over.

"Hey, you Dhatri?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. You here for the Fiend bounties?" Dhatri asked.

"Maybe, how about you tell us what we're dealing with?" Eric asked.

"First one calls herself Violet. God knows why, the name is the prettiest thing about her. She spends most of her time with a pack of vicious dogs." Dhatri explained.

"Alright, who else we got?" Eric asked.

"Then there's Driver Nephi. He's fast and he's brutal. Killed about a dozen of my men with a goddamn driver iron. Hence his name." Dhatri explained.

"And third?" Eric asked.

"And finally... Cook-cook. Rapist. Pyromaniac. And damn good chef, if you believe the Fiends we've captured. Probably the craziest of the lot." Dhatri explained.

"Right, how much are you paying?" Eric asked.

"Look, I'm not going to lull you into some false sense of security here, these bastards are worse than your average Fiend, or I wouldn't have put a bounty on their heads, but if you go after these psychos, you're in for a hell of a fight so choose carefully." Dhatri said. Eric turned to Veronica.

"Can I talk this over with my partner here?" Eric asked.

"Take all the time you need." Dhatri said, turning away.

"Right, what one do you think we should we go for?" Eric asked.

"I'm thinking of taking on Nephi." Veronica said.

"Why? You heard Dhatri, he's fast and brutal." Eric said. "Seems like a dangerous combination to me." He added.

"Yeah, but he has a golf club, you have a plasma caster. All you need to do is put some distance between you and him and just melt him." Veronica said. Eric sighed.

"Fair enough." Eric said, turning back to Dhatri. "We've decided to take on Nephi." He said.

"You've got some guts, I'll give you that. Nephi is one tough son of a bitch. You let him get close, and he'll take your head off." Dhatri said.

"How do we prove we've killed him?" Eric asked.

"Bring me his head." Dhatri said.

"What?" Eric asked.

"Bring me his head." Dhatri repeated. "The better the condition, the better the reward. Which means that plasma caster of yours isn't going to help you." He said.

"Well, shit." Eric said. "Oh well, we'll still take it. I'll just have to think of something." Eric said.

"My advice is this. Talk to Lieutenant Gorobets. He's in charge of Alpha Team, First Recon." Dhatri said.

"I'll consider that." Eric said. "Where can we find him?"

"Here, I'll mark the three of them on your map. You don't have to take on all three, it's just in case you do. Anyway, if you're lucky, you can lure Nephi into the open, and the sharpshooters can bring him down. You bring me the head, you'll still get the bounty." Dhatri said. "I'd say it's better than you taking him on two on one, but it's your call." He said, shrugging his shoulders. Eric and Veronica started to walk away.

"I almost forgot." Eric said, stepping back. "Do you know if there's anyone in there who could use some help?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Dhatri asked.

"You know, just help with things. Surely there's some things that you can't just send soldiers out to do?" Eric asked.

"Well, I guess. Yeah, there's some things going on in there. I don't have any specifics, you'll just have to go in and find out for yourself. Wait, I remember Dr Hildern needing some help with something, go check in on him.£ Dhatri said.

"Thanks, we'll do that." Eric said leaving the base.

"Well, that went better than I expected." Veronica said.

"Yeah, let's take out this Driver Nephi first." Eric said, slipping on his spiked knuckles.


	16. Chapter 16 - There Stands the Grass

"What's your plan for Driver Nephi?" Veronica asked, as they left Camp McCarran.

"Other than punching his shit in? Nothing." Eric said, looking down at his Pip Boy for directions.

"You do realise that you aren't wearing your power armour, right? You're not going to withstand a golf club to the head." Veronica said.

"Yeah, I realise that. I'm thinking if I go in fast enough, I can pull out my knife and just slit his throat. He won't expect that from a guy with just a pair of spiked knuckles. Also, I doubt he'll go straight for a head shot. He's a raider. Experience tells me they tend to draw things out." Eric said.

"As well thought out as that is, I doubt it's going to work. This guy has taken out armed soldiers. With a goddamn golf club." Veronica emphasised. "Why can't we take out another one, maybe not Cook-cook, but what about Violet? I think we can take on some dogs." Veronica asked. Eric stopped.

"Look, it isn't like I'm going to take on Nephi's goons with my fists. I'll have my plasma caster for that, then when the time comes to kill Nephi, I'll bring out the knife." Eric said.

"What if you don't see Nephi until it's too late?" Veronica asked.

"Oh well, we accept the lowered reward. Either way, we need to take these raiders out." Eric said. "Besides, how hard can it be to take down some drugged out raiders in the first place?" He asked.

"I don't see these guys as being particularly drugged out. They're dangerous enough to have bounties on their heads." Veronica said. "Surely that means they won't be completely drugged out?" She asked.

"Maybe not, but still, they're raiders They're not exactly the most durable specimens around." Eric said. He looked at his map. "Alright, we're just about there. Let's concentrate on taking this guy down." He said, scanning the area for hostiles. He pulled out his plasma caster and walked carefully on. "I don't see anyone, do you?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm sure there's someone around." Veronica said.

"Maybe they're near that building over there." Eric said, gesturing towards a burnt out building in the distance.

"What makes you think that?" Veronica asked.

"Well, this is roughly the area Dhatri said he'd be, so I'm just assuming he and his crew are in there." Eric said.

"Alright, fair enough." Veronica said, after a pause. They moved closer to the building and waited outside it. "What now?" Veronica asked.

"Let's just kick the door down and start fighting." Eric said, walking up to a nearby door.

"No, wait." Veronica said, a little too late as Eric had kicked the door open and ran in. She heard the confused yells of fiends and the firing of various weapons, she sighed and ran into the building. As she entered, she saw five fiends dead on the floor.

"Nephi! I've come to claim a bounty!" Eric yelled, fighting off more fiends. As he said this, a fiend wielding a golf club appeared.

"What makes you think you can succeed where many others failed? Including a few NCR soldiers?" Nephi asked, watching Eric and Veronica kill the crowd of fiends.

"Well, I've taken out your men without much damage. So I should be good taking someone as low as you on." Eric said, shooting the last fiend dead. Nephi chuckled.

"Don't get cocky, kid. You've still got me to take on." Nephi said as he ran towards Eric, brandishing his golf club. Eric put his plasma caster away and slipped the spiked knuckles on.

"It's not like you've taken over the Mojave, get a grip." Eric said, dodging Nephi's strikes.

"Stay still!" Nephi yelled in frustration.

"Now why would I do that?" Eric asked, punching Nephi in the face a couple of times. Nephi staggered back and hunched over in pain. Eric stood where he was. "I hit you twice, it's not that bad, get up." He said. Nephi chuckled and spat out some blood.

"It'll take a lot more than that to take me down." Nephi said. Eric looked behind Nephi and noticed Veronica sneaking up on him. Eric lowered his fists. "Ha! Giving up that easily, huh?" Nephi asked, lowering his club. ""What, did common sense finally hit you?" Nephi asked.

"No, she did." Eric said as Veronica punched Nephi in the back of the head. Nephi laughed as he lay on the floor.

"I'll give you that one." He said. Eric rolled Nephi over onto his back and drew his knife. Eric crouched and slit Nephi's throat in one swift movement. Nephi started to spasm as he bled out on the ground.

"Are you really just letting him bleed out like that?" Veronica asked. Eric stayed silent. After a while, he started to cut the head off.

"Is Dhatri expecting us to just carry this back to him?" Eric asked, removing the fiend helmet and picking up Nephi's head. As he stood up, he decided to take Nephi's golf club as well.

"Really? You're going to take his weapon?" Veronica asked.

"Well, I can't keep the head as a trophy, so I'll just take his weapon. Now let's get going, I don't want to handle this for too long." Eric said, leaving the building. Veronica looked over at all the fiends they had just killed and followed Eric.

"Hey Dhatri!" Eric yelled as he walked into Camp McCarran.

"What?" Dhatri asked, turning around. Eric threw Nephi's head into his hands. Dhatri examined it. "Well, well, well. Driver Nephi. Nothing to say, you son of a bitch? No tips on my golf swing?" Dhatri said to the decapitated head. Eric and Veronica looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "Lost a lot of good men to this psychopath. Morale's going to be better, now that he's gone. Here's the bounty I promised." He said, handing some caps to Eric and Veronica. "Now that's over with, I'd send 1st Recon down to Camp Forlorn Hope, but I heard it's overrun by the Legion. Bastards." He said.

"Thank you. Is Dr Hildern still looking for help?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, he should be. Just go in, he's been waiting for people for a while now." Dhatri said, walking off.

"Wait, what is it Hildern needs help with?" Veronica asked.

"He wants to get some data from a Vault, he said it's been overrun with plants and that data there could help prevent food shortages." Dhatri explained.

"OK, just so we know what we're dealing with." Veronica said. Dhatri continued to walk away. "I'm sure this is what Father Elijah was talking about." She said. "How did you know Dr Hildern would be looking for that?" She asked.

"I didn't. I figured I'd say something about it and see if he reacted in any way." Eric said.

"That might not have been the best plan, but whatever, let's go." Veronica said, walking into the terminal building.

"Now, where is Dr Hildern?" Eric asked, looking around the terminal building. "Hey, do you know where Dr Hildern is?" Eric asked a passing soldier.

"Yeah, he's just through there." The soldier said, pointing to a doorway.

"Thanks, man." Eric said. He walked through the doorway and saw Dr Hildern. "Hey, we're here to help with that Vault data." Eric said. Hildern turned around.

"A pleasure to meet you! I'm Dr. Thomas Hildern, Director of Operations, OSI East. I assume you're talking about Vault 22?" Hildern said.

"Yeah. What exactly are we dealing with here?" Eric asked.

"Imagine, if you will, the wasteland in bloom, vast fields of corn that grow from seeds and produce their bounty in the space of a month..." Hildern started.

"Save the sales pitch, just tell us what we need to do." Eric said.

"All right. Straight to the point. I believe that the inhabitants of Vault 22 unlocked the secrets of vegetative growth." Hildern said, slightly irritated that his speech was cut short. "Plants are spilling from their gate. No one tends them. No one waters them. Yet they multiply and spread in all directions." He explained. "Find the reason for this miraculous growth, and I promise you, the OSI will see that you are generously compensated." He added.

"Alright, we'll do it. Now, where is this Vault 22?" Eric asked.

"It's just here." Hildern said, marking it on Eric's Pip Boy. Eric and Veronica left Hildern and were stopped by another researcher.

"Did Dr. Hildern, this really isn't any of my business, but, did he give you a job?" The researcher asked.

"Yeah. To get some data from Vault 22. Why?" Eric said.

"Look, my name is Angela Williams and I know I shouldn't say anything, I know that. But you're not the first person Hildern's sent out to the vault." Angela said.

"Really now? How many has he sent?" Eric asked.

There were a lot of mercs. One after another. None of them came back." Angela said. "Then, about a week ago, there was a scientist. Keely. She's unusual, not the sort of person you'd expect, but she's an absolute genius, and he didn't mention her? Not even her name? Or any of the other mercs?" She asked.

"No, maybe Hildern and I need to have another talk." Eric said, turning back to talk Hildern.

Wait, before you do, can I ask you to find Keely? I'm not the richest person, but I can see that you're rewarded." Angela added.

"Yeah, sure." Eric said, walking away from Angela. "Hildern!" He yelled.

"What do you want, you're supposed to go to Vault 22." Hildern said turning to face Eric.

"I'm not the first person you sent to Vault 22, am I?" Eric asked. Hildern shook his head.

"I never said you were." He said. "Wait, you've been speaking with Williams, haven't you?" He asked.

"Yeah, what difference does that make?" Eric asked.

"None at all. Informed speculation on my part. Williams is very good at her job, so it remains secure, despite her best efforts." Hildern said. "No, you aren't the first person I've sent to the Vault. I'm sorry that I neglected to tell you, but I don't see how it makes any difference." He explained.

"Well, maybe because it tells me just how dangerous this place might be." Eric said. "Now, you better have your money ready for us coming back." He said, leaving the terminal building.


	17. Chapter 17 - There Stands the Grass II

"Right, Vault 22 doesn't sound that bad." Eric said. "I've got a question, should we hand the rangefinder to the Elder first, and then if that isn't enough, go get the data from Vault 22?" He asked.

"It's best if we do them both at once, that way we won't waste any time." Veronica said.

"Alright, fine. Let's get this over with." Eric said, setting a marker on his Pip Boy.

"What was your Vault like, by the way?" Veronica asked.

"Eh, it was a Vault. Kept us safe. I was told that we're born in the Vault, we die in the Vault. I never believed that shit, and neither did my parents. My mother actually told me that there was someone who came in with his son from out in the wastes. His son was actually the guy who escaped from the Vault to look for his dad. Sad to hear what happened to his dad and himself, actually." Eric said, reminiscing.

"What happened to them?" Veronica asked.

"His dad was killed by the Enclave. Or at least that's what a majority of people say. The Elder at the time said he sacrificed himself to save his son." Eric said.

"What happened to his son?" Veronica asked.

"Oh, he ended up taking out the Enclave in the Capital Wasteland pretty much by himself. He stormed their base and annihilated them. A vertibird came through after he was done. It was unbelievable. Guy was nuts. After that, though, no-one knows. I've heard no end of stories about what happened to him. Some guy says he just left the Wasteland to go somewhere else, and this one guy said he went to space to fight off aliens. I think he was hittin' the Jet, if you ask me." Eric said, shaking his head.

"Seriously? That's ridiculous. What do you think happened to him?" Veronica asked.

"I think he got out of the Capital Wasteland, and just went somewhere else. He was badass, he could've done anything he wanted. Though not to the level of the Courier. He's going to be trying to take over Vegas. Can't say the Vault kid could've done that." Eric said.

"Vault kid?" You don't even know his name?" Veronica said.

"Not really. Like I've said before, I joined up after he destroyed the Enclave. Then shit went south real fast. A few months after I joined, the Elder at the time died. Natural causes, I think. His daughter stepped up and she's been doing pretty good. I haven't heard anything about her since I left, but I assume she's still doing well. She was hardcore." Eric said. "How's McNamara been for you? I've not really been here as long, so I can't really judge." He asked.

"He's progressive." Veronica said.

"Uh. What?" Eric asked.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure under the right circumstances, he'll support even the NCR. Father Elijah was the one who started the war with the NCR. So... y'know." Veronica said. Eric looked at his Pip Boy.

"Right, we're pretty close to the Vault." He said. "In fact, we're pretty much right there." Eric said. The two ran on in an attempt to get there faster. Eric saw a slope with plants leading down.

"Is this it?" Veronica asked.

"Should be. I mean, there's a sign over there. I can't quite read it from here." He said, walking closer. "Holy shit, come look at this!" He said, laughing slightly.

"What is it? Is it not the Vault?" Veronica asked.

"Oh, it is. But the sign says 'Stay out! The plants kill!' This is... This is some shit we've gotten ourselves into here." Eric said.

"Oh. Well, let's go in." Veronica said.

"Really? Goddamn it. This won't be fun, I can already tell." Eric said, going down to the Vault door. "Be careful, there's some huge ass mantises here." He said, stomping on one. "Man, these plants grow thick, don't they? Almost makes me wish I had a flamer." He said, entering the Vault. The two went down the stairs and tried to go into the elevator.

"Damn it, broken. Stairs it is, then." Vernoica said.

"Wait, I think I can fix this..." Eric said, looking at the elevator panel.

"Really?" Veronica asked.

"I should be able to, it's kinda beginners stuff here." Eric said, pulling the panel off the wall and fiddling with the wires. After a minute, he put the panel back on and called for it. The elevator arrived with a ding. "Oh, how great am I?" He said, smugly.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get in." Veronica said, smirking. "Now, where will this wonder data be?" She asked.

"Well, it may be different over here, but Vault 101 had all its data in a server room in the lower levels. We could try the fifth floor and see if it's there." Eric said.

"Well, I don't see why Vault Tec would change their design for one vault, so let's go." Veronica said, pressing the fifth floor button.

The two stepped out when the doors opened on the fifth floor. "Right, where do we look?" Eric asked himself.

"I dunno, want to just split up?" Veronica asked.

"Sure." Eric said, walking off down a hallway.

"Okay then." Veronica muttered to herself, walking down the opposite hallway. Eric opened doors and looked in rooms in an attempt to find something that looked even remotely like a server room. As Eric patrolled the rooms, he noticed something standing in the hallway, facing the corner.

"Uh, hello?" He asked, approaching the figure, as a result of the low light making it difficult to see who it was, Eric turned his Pip Boy light on, causing the person to turn and start attacking Eric. "The fuck is this?" Eric said, holding his power armoured arm up to the green creature. Pushing the creature away, Eric drew his plasma caster and fired, taking the creature down. Suddenly, he lifted it up and pointed it to running footsteps he heard.

"It's me, don't shoot." Veronica said, upon seeing Eric pointing his plasma caster at her. "What the hell happened?" She asked.

"This thing attacked me." Eric said, pointing to the corpse of the creature. Eric opened a nearby door and looked inside. "I think this is it." He said, entering. "Yeah, I'm sure this is it." He said, looking at the terminal mounted on the wall. He walked up and activated it, downloading the data to his Pip Boy.

"That's it?" Veronica asked.

"Should be. Data integrity is a bit weak, but I don't give a shit. Should we go or should we find that researcher's friend?" Eric asked.

"Well, we need to get this data to McNamara quickly." Veronica said, trying to avoid the question.

"Yeah, but this girl could be in trouble. Look, as I was looking for this room, I saw a tunnel system, let's just look in there. If she isn't there, we walk." Eric compromised.

"Yeah, sure." Veronica said, leaving the room. The two went down the tunnel system and looked around.

"What did she say her friend's name was?" Eric asked.

"Uh, Keely, I think." Veronica said, thinking.

"Well, worth a shot." Eric said "Keely!" He shouted. Silence. "Dr Williams sent us!" He shouted, after a few seconds. Silence again. Eric went deeper into the tunnel and saw a wide open area. "Jeez. This place is bigger than I thought it'd be." He muttered. He stepped down to the bottom of the room and noticed plants spitting something at him. "Fucking why?" He muttered to himself, angrily. He drew his plasma caster and started firing wildly, hoping to hit something. He missed five shots, and hit with six. As he was reloading his plasma caster, lasers started blasting the green creatures, the mantises and the plants. Eric looked over and saw a ghoul wielding a laser pistol.

"So, Angela sent you, huh?" The ghoul asked, after checking that everything was dead.

"Yeah. Take it you're Keely?" Eric asked.

"Yep." Keely said. "Now, come with me to level 2. I have a lab set up there. There's something I need you to do." She said, walking off towards the elevator.

"Goddamn it." Veronica muttered. "What is it you need us to do?" She asked, catching up to Keely.

"I'm going to pump some gas through here. And then, I need you to ignite it." Keely said.

"How do you intend for us to ignite this gas?" Eric asked, knowing already what the answer is.

"In the area where the gas will be active, any kind of fire or explosion should do the trick. Hell, even lasers would do the job." Keely said. Eric's face dropped behind his helmet.

"I can stay and do that. I've got the armour for it." He said, pounding his chest, demonstratively.

"OK. Fine." Keely said. "Wait, I should show you where the gas is going to be pumped through." She said, stopping suddenly. She led Eric to a vent. "Here it is, try not to die." She said, walking away.

"Seriously, be careful." Veronica said.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go pump this shit through." Eric said. Eric sat down and waited. Half an hour later, he heard gas coming through the vent and stood up. "Alright. This can only end perfectly." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He drew a 9mm pistol he had on him in case of emergencies and fired up at the vent. Eric felt the gas ignite almost instantly, dropping to the ground in pain. "Oh, fuck this. I knew this was a bad idea." Eric said, wincing. "Good thing I have stimpaks." He said, weakly, injecting a stimpak into himself. He lay there for a few minutes before getting up and staggering towards the elevator. HE pressed the button for the second floor and waited. Upon arriving at the second floor, the doors opened to Veronica standing there.

"You alright?" She asked.

"Fuck. No." Eric said, walking out of the elevator. "I feel like I just got cooked." He said. "Where's Keely?" Eric asked.

"Over here." Veronica said, leading Eric to Keely's lab.

"What happened to the data?" Keely asked as Eric entered the room.

"Really? I nearly die and all you give a shit about is some data?" Eric asked, seething.

"Yes. I have to remotely delete these, make sure this never happens again." Keely said. "So, I'll ask again, what happened to the data?" She asked.

"I did download some files earlier while exploring the vault." Eric said, sitting down. "But, my friend here is part of a group that can develop it into something safe everyone can benefit from." He added, pointing to Veronica.

"I suppose you've given me no reason not to trust you. Fine, take the data and go. I hope you know what you're doing." Keely said, relenting.

"So do I." Eric said, standing up.

"Let's get out of here." Veronica said, leaving the room.

"Right, where first?" Eric asked. "Hidden Valley? Or shall we get some money out of this?" He asked.

"Let's go to McCarran. We can at least put that girl's mind to rest about Keely." Veronica said.

"Yeah, alright. I still hate vaults. They always seem to have something go wrong." Eric said, walking off to Camp McCarran.

 **Author's Note: Yeah, this took a while. Well, several things happened all at once. One, life. Two, Fallout 4. Not as good as New Vegas in my eyes, but it's still good, Deacon 4 life, though. And three, I procrastinated HEAVILY. Ah well. I've got a lot of spare time now, so hopefully some schedule will be maintained. Sorry about the lateness.**


	18. Chapter 18 - I Could Make You Care II

"I've got your data here, Doc." Eric said, approaching Dr Hildern.

"On your Pip Boy? Alright." Hildern said, copying the data from it.

"I'd be careful with that data if I were you, there were some fucked up things in that vault." Eric warned.

"Your concerns are perfectly understandable, but I assure you, they're entirely misplaced." Hildern scoffed. "We would never use a technology that wasn't fully tested." He added. "Besides, we aren't some motley band of Vault alchemists. We're with the government, for goodness sake. Have a little faith in us!" He added. Eric rolled his eyes at the doctor.

"Yeah, okay. Can we get our caps now?" Eric said, sounding tired.

"Yes, yes. It's always about the caps with you mercenaries, isn't it?" Hildern said, giving Eric a bag of caps.

"Gotta say, this feels pretty light for what I was doing in there." Eric said, weighing the bag of caps. "How about a little extra, and I won't tell anyone how you sent several people to their deaths without official sanction?" He bartered.

"What are you, some kind of expert on NCR procedures? Damn it, fine." Hildern said, giving Eric another bag of caps.

"Thanks for the job, Hildern." Eric said, walking out of the room.

"Did you really need to do that? Veronica asked.

"Yes. You saw how fucked it was in there." Eric said. "Hey, Williams." He said, passing by.

"Oh, hello. Keely called in, you should have heard the Director. "But I-" "Wait a-" "Now look here-" she wouldn't let him finish a sentence. Just reamed him out for sending all those people to the Vault. I've never seen his face so red and twitchy. Thanks for keeping her safe. Here's the caps I promised. I knew I had a good feeling about you."

"No problem, but keep the caps." Eric said, giving Williams the caps back and walking away.

"Now to Hidden Valley, then?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. Hopefully McNamara listens to us." Veronica said.

"Yeah, what'll you do if he doesn't?" Eric asked.

"I... I don't know." Veronica said. "I guess I hadn't really given it much thought. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." She said, shrugging. "Now, we'd better just hurry up and get there." She said, walking slightly faster.

"You ready for this?" Eric asked, standing at the door of the bunker.

"Yeah. Are you? The data is on your Pip Boy, remember?" Veronica asked.

"Shit. So it is." Eric said, dropping his head. "Let's get this over with." He sighed and entered. "Ramos! Open up!" He yelled, approaching the door. There was a pause before the door opened.

"Really? At least Veronica tried, you're not going to give me a password or anything?" Ramos asked.

"Nope. We're here to see the Elder." Eric said, entering the bunker.

"You know he'll probably try and have you killed, right?" Ramos asked.

"Yeah, probably." Eric said, shrugging.

"We need to show him some things and Eric has one of them on his Pip Boy." Veronica explained.

"I see." Ramos said. "Well, I'm not going to stop you. On you go." He said, going back into his office. Eric and Veronica walked down to the Elder's Chambers.

"Hadley, I thought I told you that you weren't to step foot in this bunker again?" McNamara asked, standing from his chair.

"Yeah, but you haven't done a very good job of that. Besides, it's not like I wanted to come here. Veronica needs to show you some things." Eric said, folding his arms.

"Right, first, I have this rangefinder." Veronica said, producing the rangefinder. "It's used for ARCHIMEDES II. An orbital laser, effective only outdoors, and it has a really long recharge time." She explained

"What? Wonderful news!" McNamara said, looking at the rangefinder.

"No. It's not. We lost most of the chapter defending glorified artillery." Veronica said.

"Well, in the hands of the enemy-" McNamara started.

"It'd be marginally more effective." Veronica interrupted.

"We couldn't have known. We fought for what we believed in." McNamara said, sounding defensive.

"Yeah, fought and died. Tomorrow you'd do it all over again, having learned nothing." Veronica said, raising her voice.

"I hope you're not trying to shame me here." McNamara said.

"I'm trying to open your eyes." Veronica said. "We need to engage the outside world. We can't win without new recruits." She added.

"What else do you have?" McNamara asked coldly. Eric walked up to McNamara and showed him the Vault 22 data on his Pip Boy. McNamara skimmed through it.

"High Elder Maxson didn't found us to be botanists, Veronica." McNamara said, looking up.

"This disk has secrets to breeding plants that can thrive in the wasteland." Veronica said, trying to explain. "Think about it. No more trading guns for food. Total self-sufficiency. It's what we always wanted." She added, sounding desperate.

"This won't get us Hoover Dam." McNamara said.

"Yes it will. If we feed people, they'll support us. They'll join us." Veronica said, argumentative.

"What does the Codex say?" McNamara asked.

"A bunch of closed-minded bullshit." Veronica said, folding her arms.

"We do not help them, or let them in." McNamara said, ignoring Veronica. "We keep knowledge they must never have." He added.

"Give it a chance. For me. I can't stay here and watch us waste away." Veronica said, even more desperate.

"I'm sorry." McNamara said, looking down.

"We'll die out." Veronica said, softly.

"I know." McNamara said, sighing. Veronica shook her head.

"Come on, Eric. Let's go. I can't listen to this any longer." She said, walking out of the Elder's Chambers.

"Now what?" Eric asked.

"I don't know. I don't know if I can stay here. Maybe it'd be better if I just left and spent the rest of my life somewhere else." Veronica said, sighing. "Maybe I could work with the Followers. Put my knowledge to good use." She added. "Or, I could stay here and watch this place slowly die." She said, wistfully.

"Well, I'm no expert, but I think you should leave, it could be your only shot at a future." Eric said.

"There's no getting around that, is there? What would my life be like here, knowing what's to come?" Veronica said. "Only problem is that they're not going to like this. We're given a chance when we're young to choose whether to stay. If we do, it's supposed to be for life." She said. "But they haven't left me any choice." She said. "Let's go. I know somewhere I could go." She said, going to the entrance.

"Well, it's been a blast, Ramos." Eric said, walking out the door. "I don't think I'll be coming back. I might, though. Who knows?" He said, waiting for Veronica.

"Yeah, it's been fun. Good luck, Hadley. Hope you get to DC alright." Ramos said.

As the two exited the bunker, they were met with three paladins.

"Who the hell are you?" Eric asked, looking over both of them.

"We heard Veronica talking with the Elder. We won't stand for this." One of the paladins said, ignoring Eric.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Eric asked.

"Veronica has always twisted the Founder's principles to her own ends. We will not stand idly by and allow her to corrupt our Elder's thinking. The two of you may have the Elder fooled, but we know better." The paladin said, pointing at Veronica.

"Shut up, you nerds. It doesn't matter anyway. She's leaving." Eric said, scoffing.

"Leaving? Into exile? Good. Saves us the trouble." The paladin said. "But mark my words. Any hint of treachery or thought of return and we will erase the both of you from existence." He added.

"Like I said, shut up, you nerd." Eric said, rolling his eyes

"You're not worth my time, foreigner." The paladin said pushing past Eric and Veronica into the bunker.

"Wow, what an asshole." Eric said, as the two walked to a Followers outpost that Veronica knew of.

"Yeah. Would they have tried to kill us?" Veronica asked.

"Tried is the key word there, my friend." Eric said.

"I guess so. Also, nice touch calling him a nerd." Veronica said, laughing slightly.

The two arrived at the outpost and walked up the stairs into it. Eric approached who assumed was a doctor sitting at a desk and knocked to get her attention. "Hello. This is Veronica, formerly of the Brotherhood of Steel. She's interested in joining your cause." He said, gesturing towards Veronica. The doctor looked at her.

"The Brotherhood? Well, this is unusual, I must say. But very welcome." The doctor said. "I'm Dr Alvarez, but I can't do anything about that. Doctor Schiller usually handles placement, and he won't be back until tomorrow. If you could come back then, we can see about your assignment." Alvarez said.

"Tomorrow? Alright, that should be fine." Veronica said, going to leave. "Thank you for your time." She added.

"No problem." Alvarez said, looking back down at her desk.

"So, we're waiting then." Eric said. "What do you want to do for a day?" He asked.

"I don't know. The trading post where you met me is near here. We could chill out over there." Veronica suggested.

"Yeah, sure. I haven't gotten drunk in a while. Let's go then." Eric said, walking towards the trading post.

"Y'know, I have a good feeling about this." Veronica said.

"So, does this mean you won't be joining the Courier again?" Eric asked.

"I'm not too sure. I could leave every once in a while." Veronica said.

"Either way, it seems like you could really do some good here. I've heard a lot about the Followers of the Apocalypse." Eric said.


	19. Chapter 19 - Wild Card

"Have you heard that voice on the radio, Mr New Vegas?" Eric asked, taking a swig of whiskey.

"Yeah, what about him?" Veronica said.

"Do you think he has any other songs available to play? Because he plays the same ones over and over again, and I feel like I could recite them all right here right now, he plays them that much." Eric said, slamming his bottle down. "But, I won't. I don't think you're ready for that kind of talent." He said, laying his head down on the bar. Veronica shook her head.

"Hey, it's getting pretty late. We should head to bed. Though first, drink some water, sober yourself up." Veronica said.

"Sure. Fine." Eric said. "Hey, bartender." He said. "Can I get some water, preferably purified?" He asked, putting some caps on the table.

"Yeah, sure." The bartender said, handing him a bottle of water.

"Actually, a couple more if you don't mind. One ain't gonna cut it for how drunk I am." Eric said, taking the bottle and putting more caps on the table.

"Alright then." The bartender said, giving Eric a couple more bottles of water. Eric drank two before getting up and following Veronica to two bedrolls. Eric took his power armour off and got into the bedroll. He fell asleep almost instantly.

Eric woke up at 10 in the morning. He put his armour on and drank the last of his water. He then put his helmet on and went back to the bar. "Hey, you got any food? I'm starving?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, we got some things." The bartender said.

"I'll take whatever." Eric said, putting some caps down and sitting down. The bartender brought out some mutfruit. "Oh, great. Thanks, man. Have you seen that girl I was with last night?" He asked, taking off his helmet.

"Yeah, she came up earlier. I'm not sure where she is now, but she'll be around." The bartender said.

"Alright, thanks." Eric said, eating the mutfruit. After he finished, he got up and looked around for Veronica. After a while, she wandered over to the bar. "Hey, you ready to go?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. Y'know, I'm actually feeling kinda nervous about this." Veronica said, walking on.

"Really? I mean, I don't think you should be. Alvarez did say that you would be welcome there." Eric said.

"Yeah, I guess, but it's not that. It's more, what if I shouldn't have left the Brotherhood?" Veronica said.

"Well, they clearly aren't going to change their ways any time soon, so I'm sure that wouldn't be good to experience, having your ideas and concerns just ignored." Eric said. "Right, we aren't making any progress just strolling there, let's pick up the pace." He said, walking quicker.

"Right, here we are." Eric said.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Veronica said.

"Uh, what?" Eric asked. ascending the staircase to the outpost.

"I don't know, it's just a feeling. It could be what I was talking about earlier." Veronica said, as Eric opened the door. "Oh no." She said, horrified, looking into the outpost. "No, no, no, no, no, no." She said, sounding more horrified.

"What is it?" Eric asked, looking into the outpost. "Holy shit." He said. Bodies were strewn across the outpost. Piles of ash were also littering the ground. "What the hell happened here?" He asked, sounding shocked.

"Sharing knowledge with an outsider organization. I knew Veronica couldn't be trusted." A voice said. The three paladins from outside the bunker came out of a side room.

"What the fuck did you do?" Eric asked.

"What does it look like? We tracked your movements a long way. But it was worth it to catch her in the act." The leader of the trio said.

"You fucking idiots, she didn't tell the Followers anything, she wanted to join them!" Eric shouted, drawing his plasma caster. The paladin ignored Eric and approached a shocked Veronica.

"Passing Brotherhood secrets to outsiders is the lowest form of treason. What have you got to say for yourself?" He said, lifting his gauss rifle. Veronica was speechless. Eric aimed his plasma caster at the paladin and fired, catching him unaware.

"You fucking psychopaths!" He yelled, blinded by rage. Veronica came to her senses and started attacking the paladins with her power fist. After a few minutes, the three paladins laid dead on the ground.

"Holy shit. Now what do I do?" Veronica asked, still shocked about the whole ordeal.

"I don't know, but maybe you should've stayed with the Brotherhood." Eric said, looking around the room.

"Well, I shouldn't have come within a mile of here. I know that." Veronica said. "Was this our fault?" She asked, after a small pause.

"No, no. Not a chance in hell was this our fault. We don't control the people who did this." Eric said, bluntly.

"No... I don't, do I? If I did, none of this would've happened." Veronica said. "I should've left a long time ago. Cut my losses before it came to this." She added.

"Can you not just join the Followers somewhere else? Maybe in Freeside, they have something there, don't they?" Eric asked.

"No. Not a chance in hell. I'm not risking this happening again." Veronica said, sounding determined. "I'm gonna have to keep to myself. Better that way. For everyone." She added, wistfully. "But, I'll still finish what I started with the Courier, though. I'll just try not to get too caught up in it all." she added. "Let's get out of here, this is making me feel sick." She said, opening the door.

"If you don't mind my asking, what was that reaction in there?" Veronica asked, as the two wandered towards New Vegas.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

"You flipped out. It was kinda scary to watch, because you didn't seem capable of anything like that." Veronica explained.

"Well, appearances can be deceiving. But really, I just hate people like that. Who murder because they think they're right. Main reason I absolutely hate raiders, and was part of the reason I joined up. I wanted to help people and I thought going around like a knight in shining armour would give people hope. That and power armour kicks some serious ass." Eric explained.

"Huh, that's pretty admirable." Veronica said. "It still weirds me out that you joined up. You're born into it over here." She added.

"Yeah, I've been told." Eric said. "I guess it's just the way the Elder was over there. You could always come back with me and see how it is after the dust settles with this Dam business." He suggested.

"I'll think about it. I'm not too sure if I'm ready to drop everything and just leave the Mojave. And you're really willing to just leave as well?" Veronica asked.

"Well, that was my plan, but I've been thinking about it. And I really like it here. More stuff going on than back home. But, I do have people I care about back home." Eric said. "And I definitely remember being told this was temporary, so it's not like I can just not show up again. They'll probably think I died or something." Eric said, trying to come to some decision. "Ah, fuck it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." He said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Who've you got back in the Capital Wasteland?" Veronica asked

"Well, my parents, but they were in the vault last time I checked. I did stop by whenever I could, but that wasn't often. And I have a brother who lives in Rivet City." Eric said.

"Rivet City?" Veronica asked.

"Oh yeah, you're not from there. It's a boat. Made into a city." Eric said.

"A boat? Doesn't sound all that impressive." Veronica said.

"Well, I say boat, mainly because it lowers expectations, but it's actually an aircraft carrier. Pretty damn big. Pretty damn impressive." Eric said.

"Well, hopefully you can go back to it someday." Veronica said.

"Yeah, hopefully." Eric said. "The Citadel is another place I'm missing." He added. "That's the Brotherhood base in the Capital Wasteland." He explained.

"Oh, sounds hardcore." Veronica said.

"You don't know the half of it. We've got a robot. And not just a protectron or even a synth, but I mean a big ass robot." Eric said.

"Wait a minute. What's a synth?" Veronica asked.

"You don't have those out here?" Eric asked.

"No, this is the first time I've ever heard of one." Veronica said, confused.

"Well, there's a group in a place known as the Commonwealth, known as the Institute. And they make synths. Look exactly like people, act like people. People get kidnapped in the middle of the night and replaced with a synth. Pretty scary stuff." Eric explained. "But, that's just the later models. Some of them, reportedly, look nothing like humans." He added.

"God, that does sound terrifying." Veronica said.

"Yeah. I remember telling a Squire, I think his name was something Maxson, maybe Albert, Alex. Shit, I don't remember. Either way, I told this kid back at the Citadel about them and he was horrified." Eric said.

"Wait, did you just say Maxson?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, last I remember, he was an annoying little shit." Eric said, blankly.

"Holy shit." Veronica said.

"Holy shit what?" Eric asked.

"Holy shit, that could be the descendant of Roger Maxson, founder of the Brotherhood of Steel." Veronica said, incredulous.

"Oh. He always claimed that, but I could've sworn he was just making that up. Seemed the exact kinda kid who'd do that." Eric said.

"Well, you should find out. That'd be pretty big if he was actually the descendant of Roger Maxson." Veronica said.

"Eh, maybe. Was still an annoying little shit. Did I ever tell you about the time our robot blew up?" Eric asked.

"No, but that sounds incredible." Veronica said.

"Well, this was before I joined up, and I had to piece this story together from about three different people. But, this robot kicked the Enclave's ass when the Brotherhood were trying to take back something called Project Purity, the scientist dad of the kid from the Vault was involved in this project, trying to bring purified water to the masses. And anyway, it just kicked the Enclave's ass, but the Brotherhood were sent to assault this outpost just two weeks later. And they were still communicating despite their main base being destroyed. Turns out, they were using a satellite array. We bring out Liberty Prime, and they just drop an air strike on him. Takes him out." Eric explained. "But, we managed to bring him back. Mostly. Still spouting that anti Communist propaganda." He added.

"Anti Communist propaganda?" Veronica asked.

"Oh yeah. It was all he was programmed to say. He was made before the war. My personal favourite line from him is "Death is a preferable alternative to Communism." It's just such a goofy thing to say." Eric said.

"If you had this at your disposal, why haven't you expanded?" Veronica said.

"He was completely and utterly destroyed. We have his head back at the Citadel. But that's about it. And even then, that'll take some time to get active." Eric said. "What are we going to do when we get back to Vegas?" He asked.

"I don't know. I was hoping you would." Veronica said.

"Well, I'm feeling lucky. So what say you and I go and hit the casinos? Get you out of those rags and me out of this goddamn suit of armour?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, that sounds nice. Maybe get real drunk and pick up some girls." Veronica said.

"Fuck yeah, sounds like a plan. We can forget every bad thing that's happened to us so far. Of which, there's been a lot." Eric said.

"Before we do this, let me ask you something. You ever just want to give up and live a life away from people and their bullshit?" Veronica asked.

"All the time." Eric said.

"Well, what's stopping you?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know. It's not me wanting to stop, it's just feeling like things are hopeless and that nothing I do will ever really make a difference. But, I still have to try." Eric said. "Hell, I'm surprised the Courier hasn't done that yet. Especially considering what he's doing." He added.

"Yeah. But, he's always been really determined, it seems." Veronica said.

"Now's not the time for this pensive bullshit. Let's get shitfaced." Eric said.

 **One week later**

"Goddamn, what time is it?" Eric asked, sitting up on his bed.

"Time? How about telling me what day it is?" Veronica asked, standing up. "I know you said we were forgetting every bad thing that's happened to us, but did we really just get blackout drunk every night for the past week? There are so many blank spots." She added.

"Apparently so. I'm drawing a few blanks as well." Eric said. "Where are we, anyway? He asked. "And why am I wearing a suit?" He asked, looking down at himself.

"I think we're in the Lucky 38, but it could really be anywhere. I'd put money on the Ultra Luxe, I specifically remember going in there." Veronica said. "At least I'm finally wearing a dress." Veronica said, looking down.

"This ain't the time for your dress fantasies. We need to figure out what we did. Spending about a week, I think, just blackout drunk doesn't seem like a recipe for a good time." Eric said. "Goddamn it, I feel like I'm about to throw up." He added, holding his head.

"A week, though. That can't be healthy." Veronica asked.

"Well, that's what my Pip Boy says." Eric said. "I'm putting on my power armour. I don't feel right wearing a goddamn suit." He added, walking off to his power armour. Veronica opened the door.

"Well, we're definitely in the Lucky 38." She said.

"That's good. Let's get out of here. Surely the Courier's got to be back from his thing by now." Eric said.

"My head is killing me." Eric said, leaving New Vegas.

"If you're going to keep complaining, can you do it internally?" Veronica asked.

"I guess. I've looked over my Pip Boy and I've left a couple of notes for myself. One saying that I owe someone money and another saying I can't gamble at the Ultra Luxe any more. Which explains the mass of caps I have." Eric said.

"Y'know, I remember what we did at the Ultra Luxe, we were vaguely sober for that. We walked in, you got really hostile with the doorman because you didn't want to hand your weapons over. Guy asked, as politely as possible, "Can I trouble you to hand over your weapons?" And you just said, like an asshole, "Can I trouble you to blow it out your ass?" which didn't win us any friends." Veronica said.

"I have no regrets. I hate those Ultra Luxe bastards. They're a bunch of smug pricks." Eric said. "And besides, I have the worst feeling about them. It's almost like they..." He began, as he saw two mushroom clouds in the distance. "Huh." He said, watching intently.

"Uh, what the fuck was that?" Veronica asked, a tinge of worry in her voice.

"Nuclear missiles, if I had to guess. One in Caesar's territory and one in NCR territory." Eric said, calmly and pointing towards the clouds.

"How can you be so calm about this? Two nuclear missiles just blew up." Veronica asked.

"Well, first of all, I'm not NCR, and neither are you. I'm also not Legion, and neither are you. If anything, this is good. If the Courier does take the Dam, this means that he has less resistance. Where they came from, that's another question." Eric said.

"No shit." Veronica said. "Let's go find Cass, one of those was in the direction of the NCR outpost." She added.

"Yeah, you're right." Eric said, speeding up.

"What the fuck was that?" Eric asked a ranger as they got to the NCR outpost.

"A nuclear missile." The ranger said, flatly.

"No shit. Where did it hit?" Eric asked.

"The Long 15. It's a checkpoint for travellers heading to the Mojave." The ranger said.

"Why don't you sound surprised?" Eric asked.

"I am, I'm just trained to be ice cold." The ranger said, causing Eric to roll his eyes. "Also, I noticed that the Legion got nuked as well. So it can't be too bad." The ranger added, shrugging.

"Whatever. Look, do you know if a Rose of Sharon Cassidy is here?"

"Ros of Sharon Cassidy?" The ranger asked himself. "Unless you mean Whiskey Rose, no." He added.

"I probably do. Is she in the bar?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, that'll be her." The ranger said. Eric and Veronica ran to the bar.

"There she is." Veronica said to Eric as they entered the bar.

"Cass, are you alright?" Eric asked.

"Yeah." Cass said. "Was a hell of a shock, though." She added.

"Yeah, no shit. We think the Courier's back from his thing with Ulysses, so you ready to go?" Eric asked. Cass slammed back her drink and put the glass on the bar.

"Yeah, let's go." Cass said, standing up. "We better pick up Boone as well." She added.

"He's on the way." Eric said.

"Hey, Boone!" Eric said, bursting into Boone's motel room.

"What?" Boone asked coldly, sitting up on his bed to face the trio.

"We think the Courier's back from his vacation to the Divide. You ready to go meet him?" Eric asked.

"Yeah." Boone said, standing up.

"Wait, did you see those nukes that hit earlier?" Eric asked, confused.

"What nukes?" Boone asked.

"Huh, you're one heavy sleeper, man." Eric said, leaving the motel room.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Boone asked, darting after Eric.

"You seriously didn't see that?" Eric asked, looking at Boone's confused face. "Veronica and I were leaving New Vegas, when we saw two nukes hit. One landing in NCR territory, the other in Legion territory." He explained.

"Shit. Still, makes the Courier's job easier." Boone said, somewhat shocked. "Though, that being said, I'm a bit pissed at the one that landed in NCR territory." He added.

"That's what I said." Eric said.

"Do you have to look at it from such a tactical point of view?" Cass asked.

"Well, yeah. I'm too used to that to not do it." Eric said.

"Same here." Boone said.

"What do you think about this, Veronica?" Cass asked.

"I was shocked to see it at first, but now that I think about it, I see where they're coming from." Veronica said.

"Oh, come on. People died." Cass said.

"We can get into this later, let's just go to Primm. Then we can discuss all the rights and wrongs of this." Eric said.

"Fine. But I'm not happy about it. Let's go." Cass said.

"So, how long are we supposed to be waiting here?" Boone asked, the group standing outside of the canyon wreckage.

"Who knows, man? Could be a few minutes, could be hours." Eric said.

"Fuck hours. I'm sitting." Boone said, sitting on the floor.

"I brought cards. Does anyone else have a deck? I've got an urge to play Caravan." Eric asked, bringing out a deck of cards.

"Yeah, I've got one." Cass said, bringing out her own deck. "I'll try to go easy on you." She added, chuckling.

 **Two hours later**

"Are you trying to hustle me here?" Cass asked, as Eric won yet another hand of Caravan.

"No, I guess I just have some good strategies." Eric said.

"I'm resisting the urge to choke you right now." Cass said.

"Yeah, yeah." Eric said, standing up. The group turned as they heard the gate in the wreckage opening.

"How long have you guys been waiting here?" The Courier asked, closing the gate.

"Not too long." Eric said, causing Boone to glare at him. "You missed something that some of us agree could be useful for you in the fight for the Dam." He added.

"Two nukes? One in NCR territory, one in Legion territory?" The Courier asked.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know that?" Eric asked.

"I may have launched them." The Courier said, adjusting his new duster.

"May have?" Boone asked, standing up. "Why would you launch one of them at the NCR?" He asked.

"Gives me an advantage at the Dam. Hell, Ulysses was going to launch them all at the NCR." The Courier said.

"Ah, so you killed him?" Eric asked.

"No, he's just camping out over the Divide, setting up a vigil as he put it." The Courier said.

"Why didn't you kill him?" Veronica asked.

"When I first met him in the flesh, we talked. I guess I managed to convince him fighting was pointless. Then we fought against the Marked Men. Former Legion and NCR driven mad by the sands of the Divide." The Courier said. "It was quite the experience. I got masks from some of them. Ulysses said they were fashioned after Legate Lanius' mask." He added. "But, I don't think we've got the time to sit around and talk about this. It's time we went to kill Caesar." He added, which caused Boone to look up and pay attention.

"I'm glad you say that. I've been planning for this for a while now." Boone said. "I'll be able to go into more detail at the Lucky 38." He added.

"I should've expected you to have some plans for this." The Courier said. "Let's go. You can fill me in on what you've been doing." He added, walking towards Primm.

"Veronica and I travelled together for a while. She wanted to show the Elder that with the way they were going, they were eventually going to die out. Long story short, some Paladins killed some Followers of the Apocalypse and destroyed their outpost." Eric explained.

"Jesus. No offence Veronica, but your friends are assholes." The Courier said.

"Preaching to the choir." Veronica said. "Tell him what happened after that." She added.

"Nah, it's not all that interesting. I barely remember it." Eric said.

"Damn it, I'm intrigued now." The Courier said.

"Yeah, there's a reason he can't remember it." Veronica said.

"Ooh, what's the reason?" The Courier asked.

"Veronica and I spent about a week getting blackout drunk. We could barely remember anything. Side note, I'm pretty sure I'm not welcome at the Ultra Luxe from now on." Eric said, causing the Courier to burst out laughing.

"A week getting blackout drunk?" Cass asked. "I had no idea you were such a party animal, Eric." She added.

"Neither did I." Eric said.

"That's hilarious. I wish I was here to see that. Anything else?" The Courier asked.

"Not really." Eric said, looking at Veronica, who shrugged. "How was the Divide, though? I'm curious as to what you saw there." He asked.

"Well, there were many times I thought I was going to die. There were so many deathclaws, man. So many. I walked into a cave, and one steps out, bigger than any I've ever seen. I thought that was the end. It took a while, but I managed to kill it. I took its hand as a trophy, which I made into this kickass gauntlet." The Courier said, bringing out a large deathclaw hand fashioned into a gauntlet.

"That is kickass. You got a name for such a kickass weapon?" Eric asked.

"I like the sound of "Fist of Rawr" because it lowers expectations. I mean, they certainly won't be expecting something of this magnitude." The Courier said.

"That makes sense, but that's kind of a terrible name." Veronica said.

"Do you have a name for your power fist?" The Courier asked.

"Maybe." Veronica said. "Maybe not." She added.

"OK... How about you, Eric? You finally come up with a name that plasma caster yet?" The Courier asked.

"Nah, I've been thinking on it, though. I've got a girl back home. Thinking naming it after her would be good. Charlotte." Eric said.

"That's not bad. It's personal, that works." The Courier said. "We should probably concentrate on getting to the Lucky 38, we've stopped several times just to talk about absolutely nothing in particular." He added.

"Good point." Boone said, the others murmuring in agreement.

"Alright Boone, what're your plans for assassinating Caesar?" The Courier asked, sitting at the table in the kitchen.

"I can get a rifle, go to a sniping perch and just blow his head off." Boone said.

"We'll put that one aside for now. We do need to get into the Fort." The Courier said.

"Hmm, we can just walk in and shoot the bastard." Boone said.

"I'd rather not have to deal with a large amount of the Legion. Especially if they're pissed." The Courier said

"How about, we rush in and just start firing at everyone." Eric piped up.

"That's suicidal." Boone said.

"It could work. We'd have the element of surprise on our hands. They'd be too surprised to comprehend what's happening." The Courier said.

"That is a horrible plan." Boone said.

"Eh, worth a shot." The Courier said. "I mean, he's got power armour." He added, pointing to Eric. "He'll probably be the safest out of all of us." He explained.

"Yeah, maybe, but I'd rather not be a bullet sponge." Eric said.

"Man, power armour makes you a tank!" The Courier said. Veronica nodded in agreement.

"It could break. These suits aren't indestructible." Eric said, trying to think of any excuse.

"Yeah, like it's just randomly going to break now of all times." The Courier said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, I'll do it. No need to get sarcastic on me." Eric said.

"Great, so we're in agreement. Everyone kitted out for gunning people down?" The Courier asked. Boone sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This is a terrible plan." Boone said.

"Well, you can tell me more when we've wiped out the Fort." The Courier said, standing up.

"I know this if going to be difficult for you, but you need to hold off on killing these guys for a little while. I need to get access to that raft." The Courier said to Boone as the group peered over a hill at Cottonwood Cove.

"I'll try." Boone said, dryly.

"You'll do more than try." The Courier said. "At least wait until we're in the Fort itself." He said.

"Fine." Boone said, hesitantly. The Courier and his companions walked calmly to the raft.

"I come bearing the Mark of Caesar!" The Courier said, holding up the necklace given to him outside of The Tops.

"That's the guy who killed Vulpes!" A Legionary shouted.

"Fuck." The Courier said, drawing his Bozar. "Fucking idiots!" He shouted, mowing down Legionaries as they came towards him. Boone sighed and pulled out his hunting rifle and started picking off Legionaries further away.

"Should we jump in?" Eric asked.

"Well, I would, but I don't like ranged weapons and I don't trust those two enough to run into their bullets." Veronica said.

"I would, but they seem to have it under control." Cass said.

"Fuck it." Eric said, pulling out his plasma caster and joining The Courier and Boone.

"That was almost therapeutic." The Courier said, as the last Legionary was killed.

"Always is." Boone said calmly, while lighting a cigarette.

"Do you have to smoke? That shit's unhealthy." The Courier said, disapprovingly.

"Funny." Boone said, looking over at the corpses of the Legionaries.

"Let's get this raft going. I'm itching to get my hands on Caesar." The Courier said, hopping onto the raft that was tied up at the end of the pier.


End file.
